The Illinois basketball team is set to face Southern in a 7 p.m. showdown on Sunday, concluding a busy weekend of three games against the Jaguars. With Southern being a non-MTE, MTE opponent, the focus for Illinois is to get off to a better start than they did in Friday’s game against Valparaiso, where they trailed by 10 at two points in the first half. This trend of struggling against mid-major opponents has been a concern this season, and fans will be eager to see if Illinois can break the pattern.
Following the game, beat writer Scott Richey will provide updates and insights from the sidelines. You can keep up with his coverage by following him on Twitter (@srrichey) or checking his email at [srichey@news-gazette.com](mailto:srichey@news-gazette.com).