Purdue vs Illinois - Game Preview

It doesn't get much better than this.

#1 Purdue 9-1 (2-1) vs #9 Illinois 11-2 (2-0)

#9 Illinois will try to continue to show its more than its suspended star, Terrance Shannon, after the former guard was charged with rape.

#1 Purdue has already taken down top-10 teams this year, but it already has a loss to its Big Ten record and will look to knock off one of the two conference unbeatens in Illinois.

Purdue has laid claim as the best team in the country and is the favorite to win the Big Ten, but if it loses this one, it'll be .500 in the Big Ten four games into the conference schedule.

Brad Underwood and Matt Painter has had the two best programs in the Big Ten in recent memory and this match-up on paper is the best both teams have been. It'll be the first top-10 matchup in Mackey Arena since January 1st, 2010.

With Terrance Shannon off the team, Illinois still isn't lacking in talent and unique skill sets that make defending them a complicating matter.

The familiarity of Coleman Hawkins after four years at Illinois, has not made him any less difficult a task for defenses. Hawkins unique blend of height and ball skills makes him as unconventional as he his maddening - often times for both teams. His brilliance can be overshadowed at times by a shot selection that doesn't match his three-point percentage.

But when it goes well, and it does a lot, Hawkins is unlike anything in college basketball. 6-10 with the ability to handle like a guard, Hawkins showed the quick step drive that men his size usually only does in the NBA.

But Hawkins the player hasn't always met Hawkins the potential. He can do anything on a basketball court, and sometimes he seems too aware of that fact.

But that's an Illinois problem. For Purdue and Matt Painter, contending with the big means having to try and counteract and control all the areas that Hawkins can kill you.

"Coleman Hawkins is a very tough match up with his skillset," Painter said on Thursday. "And his ability to drive, and post, and block shots, rebound, and make threes."

Hawkins list of cans is a long one. It's made even more difficult by the fact that before Shannon's departure Illinois wasn't a one-man unit. It still isn't.

"They're a team that has great balance," Painter went on to say. "So if you want to go in and stop one guy, you're probably gonna stop that guy. But then everybody else is gonna have a career night. So you've gotta have a team effort against them because they have a really good team."

That makes what Hawkins can do all the more daunting. It will be a team effort to try and keep Hawkins at bay, but that effort can be offset by the players around Hawkins stepping up. Something they've done in the the two games since Shannon's charge of rape that's left him suspended from the team.

It's an uncomfortable juxtaposition that Brad Underwood has made it clear that this particular team of his has been one of his favorite he's coached. He's made references to how locked in the team and how they've been more connected than previous teams. While the off-court story is a horrible one for all involved, the uncomfortable truth is that Illinois does look like a team that's bought in, even without its former star player.

Hawkins, in his fourth year, appears to have smoothed away some of his rough edges. He's having a career year from three. After spending his entire career under 30% from three, he's up to 35% this season which mostly comes down to his shot selection. With all the skills Hawkins has with the ball, a three-pointer taken by him was usually a win for opposing teams.

"He's a deal breaker, man," Painter said of Hawkins, effusive in his praise. "Like when he's hitting a three and you've gotta get up on him and his ability to drive."

With someone who creates so many issues, it's impossible to have just one answer for him.

"He really puts you in a bind," Painter went on. "It's a matchup issue. You've gotta be there on the catch with him and get him out of rhythm. Then you gotta be able to contain the dribble. It's a team deal. Like you gotta keep him off the glass. Gotta be physical."

Purdue has had a lot of success against Hawkins in his career. He's not scored more than six points in his career against the Boilers, and Purdue will hope that trend continues as they play host to Illinois in a match-up of top-ten teams and the favorites in the Big Ten.

While Terrance Shannon's on-court absence is obviously a big deal for Illinois - you don't lose a top-five player in the country without some repercussions - Matt Painter and staff have found that Illinois hasn't changed a whole bunch of what they do on the court. Instead, other players are stepping up, and excelling with more time with the ball in their hands.

Its identity hasn't switched. Illinois still plays Brad Underwood basketball.

"Still their number one attribute is just how hard they play," Matt Painter said. "How they go to the glass. How they sprint in transition. How they swarm the ball defensively. So that's always been the staple of his teams. Just how grimy they are. How tough they are and how hard they play."

It can be difficult to prepare for a team that's changed up their scheme for personnel with this little evidence on tape, but that hasn't been the case with Illinois.

"I think it makes it difficult if you start to do different things," Painter said. "They just went to more of a package of playing through iso's and they were doing that anyways."

Underwood's teams have also always been apt to take advantage of the size of its guards and playing fast. Illinois is comfortable going small, and Purdue matching that is something they're more capable of this year than in year's past.

Purdue ended the regular season with a win over Illinois, 76-71.

But the two stars of that game, Terrence Shannon and Brandon Newman, are both gone now.

It's the most anticipated match up in the Big Ten this season, and two top-ten teams meeting up.

A black eye, a chronic back, and now a hurt toe.

Mason Gillis sat out practice on Thursday. The short turn around from playing at Maryland to hosting Illinois probably helped prompt the caution with Gillis's body, but the list of injuries compiling in Gillis' body had Painter joking with his star reserve, which injury is keeping him out today?

Turns out, it was his toe. Gillis is no stranger to black eyes, giving or receiving, with his physical at times close to reckless pursuit of contacts and the basketball, and the back is an issue that's been around for a while and won't be leaving any time soon.

But the toe is a new issue, and one that had him sitting on the scorer's table as Purdue prepared to play Illinois on Friday night. But Painter doesn't expect the injury to get in the way of Gillis playing on Friday night.

That's good news for a Purdue team that's set to face a top-10 Illinois team at home.

While Gillis's minutes and counting stats might not reach the level of impact he has one the floor, the senior is one of Purdue's most integral pieces and comes off the bench to provide elite spacing around Zach Edey. Gillis is shooting nearly 52% from three on the season, knocking down 14 of his 27 three-point attempts.

Gillis, who holds the records for made threes inside of Mackey Arena by a Purdue player, has always been an efficient scorer, but has career highs in effective field goal percentage and true shooting percentage. He opens the floor for Purdue and has the experience at the four spot as Purdue heads into the heart of Big Ten action.

Gillis has the seventh best offensive rating in Big Ten action between all players, a mark that's online with his play in Big Ten play historically. Only his freshman year has he ended up outside the top ten, when he was 18th in the Big Ten with offensive rating.

He will also likely draw the Coleman Hawkins assignment for good portions of the game.