Illinois Basketball: Illini Doing More Than Surviving Without Rice and Cosby

When the Illinois Fighting Illini lost senior Rayvonte Rice due to injury last month, it seemed like the nail in the coffin for a team that had already started the season 0-2 in conference with its star player in the lineup. The thought of losing him indefinitely had most fans already looking towards next season. This season seemed to be in a downward spiral.

To make matters worse, two weeks later they would lose starter Aaron Cosby due to an eye injury. With two starters down, the Illini were definitely done, weren't they? It couldn't possibly be a tournament team at this point.

Well, five weeks after losing Rice and three weeks after losing Cosby—who were both then suspended indefinitely on top of being injured—the Illini find themselves in a good position to be a participant in the madness of March.

After taking down Michigan State in front of the Izzone for the second year in a row last Saturday, the Illini improved to 16-8 (6-5) and definitely helped their chances of reaching the NCAA tournament.

Say what you will about the their injuries, suspensions and lack of depth, but the guys who are currently taking the floor for Illinois have stepped up in a big way. In fact, it can be argued that it has played better basketball without star Rice and fellow starter Cosby than it did with them. Without Rice in the lineup, the Illini are now 6-3; without Cosby, they are 4-1.

How have they done it?

Well, in the absence of Rice and Cosby, the sophomore duo of Malcolm Hill and Kendrick Nunn have certainly picked up the slack. Hill is averaging 14.8 points per game, while Nunn is at 11.5. Both of them are shooting over 41 percent from behind the arc.

Even more impressive is that in conference games, Hill is averaging 16.9 points and Nunn 14.4, which makes them currently the highest-scoring sophomore tandem among the nation's six power conferences, according to The Dispatch/Argus' Kedric Prince. That's saying something.

And they aren't the only guys who have stepped up.

Sophomore point guard Jaylon Tate, who was basically an afterthought in the minds of many coming into this season, has clearly shown that he runs the team better than anyone on the roster from the point guard position. He's not a scorer by any means, but he has shown a great ability to be a leader and keep the team on track, while distributing the basketball.

Freshman forward Leron Black is also coming around. Early in the season he seemed a little lost at times on the floor, but he has never lacked aggressiveness. With increased playing time, Black seems to be using his aggression more wisely and making positive plays for his team, especially on the glass where he is averaging over five boards a game in conference play.

Nnanna Egwu has been dominant defensively while providing timely offense, and senior transfer Ahmad Starks has finally started to shoot the ball the way head coach John Groce envisioned when taking him on as a transfer. Throw in contributions from the improving Maverick Morgan and recently from Austin Colbert, and the Illini seem to have a nice thing going.

The question now is, how will Rice and Cosby fit back in with a team that has played with great chemistry while they were gone?

Let's not forget that before he injured his wrist in mid-January, Rice was averaging 17.2 points per game to go along with 6.9 rebounds, both of which led the team then and lead the team now. Those numbers would currently put him in the top five in the league in both categories. So as great as the team has played without him, it stands to reason that a healthy Rice would make this team much more dangerous down the stretch. 

As for Cosby, he really hasn't lived up to expectations to this point in the season as he's struggled mightily shooting the ball. He is the fourth-leading scorer on the team at 7.8 points per game but is still shooting under 30 percent from the field. His loss is in no way as significant as that of Rice, but despite his struggles, I'm sure Groce would love to have another guy with scoring potential at his disposal.

However, if anyone's role is going to diminish a bit when everyone is back, it would probably be Cosby. Until he shows that he can consistently knock down the outside shot, he may not see as much time on the floor. But that remains to be seen.

There has been no update from Groce on when his two suspended players will return, but it's certainly going to be soon. This has many wondering what Rice's role will be now that the team has played well in his absence. Again, getting him back will certainly be a positive, but the key will be getting him back into the flow without disrupting the chemistry this team seems to have found. Easier said than done.

With the way Hill and Nunn have emerged offensively, Groce certainly does not want them to regress with Rice back in the lineup. He has done a great coaching job to this point in the season, battling through adversity to have his team in the hunt for the tournament. But this will be another big test for him.

Can he fit the pieces back together and have this team continue to play at a high level?

With only seven games left in the regular season, every one of them is crucial, starting with Michigan this Thursday night in Champaign. The Illini will be hoping to avenge the loss to the Wolverines in Ann Arbor last month, a game in which they blew a double-digit, second-half lead.

For Illinois, the madness has already begun.