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Indiana knows it has a tough matchup with No. 18 Illinois on Saturday. Not just because the Illini own the Big Ten's best record, but because of the versatility that Brad Underwood's roster brings to the floor.
The highlight is 7-foot and 285-pound center Kofi Cockburn, someone who has had his success this season against just about anyone.
Everyone knows Illinois' offense starts and ends with Cockburn and Indiana head coach Mike Woodson understands there may not be a ton to do to really take him out of the game, but moreover, he looks to do what he can to slow down the 'big fella' from having another easy night in the paint.
"There's no big secret. It's what it is," Woodson said on Friday. "And this last game, they milked him until they couldn't milk him no more, in terms of throwing it into him and him dominating the inside game. I mean, that's where their strengths are."
Cockburn enters Saturday averaging 22.1 points and 11.6 rebounds per game. He leads the Big Ten in offensive and defensive rebounding. He also shoots it at a 61.1 percent clip from the floor.
On the season, he has had 10 20+ point efforts, two 30+ point efforts, five games with 10+ made field goals and 12 double-doubles.
Indiana has seen size before this season with Purdue, a game in which Indiana came out with a win. While different types of players, Cockburn has similarities to Purdue's 7-footer Zach Edey.
Indiana limited Edey to just 12 points and his third lowest shot attempt game of the season (6).
Trayce Jackson-Davis was limited to just 11 minutes in that win due to foul trouble, something he will have to deal with on Saturday.
"When he played big fellow Edey, you can't give these guys angles. I mean, it's tough enough when they are so huge," Woodson said about Jackson-Davis. "And if you let them get so low, I just think he's going to have to fight just like Mike (Durr), whoever has to play them. They're going to have to just fight and hope for the best.
"And I thought the two fouls that Trayce picked up early against Edey was because he gave him some angles and he tried to get back after he got the ball and it was just too late."
While it was Jackson-Davis in foul trouble for most of that Purdue game, it was 7-foot transfer Michael Durr that stepped up. He played a season-high 24 minutes in that game and tied his season-high with two blocks. While he hasn't played in the last two games, this is another opportunity for the reserve big man.
"This is the game he's got to be ready," Woodson said of Durr. "That's all I'm going to tell you, because we've got a monster in the middle that somebody's got to deal with him. So be ready."
While Jackson-Davis and Durr may spend the most time on Cockburn, Jackson-Davis knows it will take a lot of different guys to slow him down.
“There’s certain things that he likes to do that we’re going to take away from him," Jackson-Davis said. "We’re going to throw different bigs at him."
And one of those guys could be 6-foot-6 forward Jordan Geronimo. The sophomore forward made his mark defensively last year, holding All-American and AP Player of the Year Luka Garza to two of his least efficient nights shooting the ball.
"Defensively just going after balls and blocking them off the glass and doing stuff of that nature just bringing that energy off the bench," Jackson-Davis said of Geronimo. "If he can just continue to do what he's doing, he's gonna earn himself a lot of minutes,"
Outside of Cockburn, Illinois has some of the top shooters in the country. Wing Alfonso Plummer connects at 40.4 percent from three on 7.4 attempts per game. Stretch four Jacob Grandison shoots 43.2 percent from three on 4.8 attempts per game. And Trent Frazier shoots 34.6 percent on 6.8 attempts from three per game.
In total, Illinois averages 9.4 made 3s per game (31st in NCAA) and shoots 36.7 percent as a team (52nd).
"If you watched their team last year, their spacing was not like it is this year They are more spaced out this year, which makes it more difficult to even double team and get back to the shooters," Woodson said. "Last year I thought they were more condensed in terms of how they ran their offense. And he's kind of opened it up a little more.
"But they've got guys that can make shots. They're averaging I think eight, nine 3s a game. And so you're going to have to deal with both of them. I don't know how you can get around it. So our defensive attackers have just got to be on par in terms of being able to fight him inside. And then we've got to scramble to get the shooters. We've got to do that as well."
Indiana's defense holds teams to just 37.3 shooting from the floor (8th in NCAA), 41.4 percent on 2s (5th), 30.8 percent on 3s (68th). Indiana is also fifth in KenPom nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency (90.3) and 10th in effective field goal rate (43.3).
It will take a total team, defensive effort from Mike Woodson's squad to knock of the Big Ten-leading Illini on Saturday.
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