Michigan State basketball<\/a> has another quick turnaround after their tough 88-74 loss to Northwestern.<\/a> The Spartans head back to Illinois Thursday night for a big matchup against the Illinois Fighting Illini.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s check in on Illinois and see how they\u2019ve been doing this season.<\/p>\n Illinois is once again one of the best teams in the conference this season. Based on the season\u2019s results so far, I\u2019d have them at No. 2 in the Big Ten.<\/p>\n The Illini have a couple of very impressive wins on their resume including one over a ranked Florida Atlantic team who made the Final Four a year ago with the same roster. Illinois also destroyed a decent Missouri team and blew out Northwestern by 30. However, the result that stands out the most to me is a loss in their most recent game.<\/p>\n They traveled to No. 1 Purdue last Friday. They lost to the Boilermakers 83-78, but they had an impressive performance. I hate playing the moral victory card, but Illinois was down by 21 points in the second half and crawled back to make this a one-possession game late. They didn\u2019t get it done, but to fight back after such a large deficit is very impressive.<\/p>\n Illinois\u2019 two other losses this year came against Marquette and Tennessee. Both teams have been in the top 10 this year and Illinois had a chance to beat them both, so the Illini don\u2019t have a bad loss yet this year.<\/p>\n The Illini will be without star player Terrence Shannon Jr. in this matchup. He has been suspended indefinitely due to some legal issues and is likely to miss this one barring a miracle. But Illinois hasn\u2019t skipped a beat without him. In its three games since Shannon was suspended, it has two wins by at least 30 points and a close loss to Purdue. So the Illini are doing just fine without their star player.<\/p>\n Shannon is Illinois\u2019 leading scorer, but the Spartans won’t have to worry about him. He would be a handful if he does play. This season, he’s averaging 21.7 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game. He also is shooting a blistering 40.8% from 3-point range as well.<\/p>\n Illinois also has three other players averaging double figures this season, led by senior guard Marcus Domask. He has been on fire since Shannon\u2019s suspension, scoring 32 and 26 points in their last two games.<\/p>\n Quincy Guerrier is averaging 11.5 points per game this year, and he too has been hot recently. He has six straight games with at least 14 points including two games in the 20s. He is also the team\u2019s leading rebounder with 7.6 per game.<\/p>\n Lastly, Illinois has two other players above 40 percent from 3-point range you\u2019ll want to keep an eye on. Justin Harmon is at 45.2% and Luke Goode is at 41.4%. Neither player is ever a \u201cgo-to\u201d player for Illinois, but they obviously can both be deadly from deep if given the chance.<\/p>\nIllinois season in review<\/h3>\n
Key players to watch<\/h3>\n