When Illinois and Nebraska face off for the second time this season, the Illini will have to do so without star guard Kylan Boswell.
Boswell, who was the second leading scorer for Illinois, went down with a broken hand and got unfortunate news on January 20. He'll be out for at least a month with the injury.
Nebraska and Illinois play for the second time on February 1, well inside that time period. Considering the Huskers already have a victory over Brad Underwood's squad - in Champaign - it's not hard to imagine they are more than a little bit deflated by not having Kylan Boswell able to go when they come to Lincoln.
Nebraska rematch looms as Illinois adjusts without Kylan Boswell
During a post-game press conference on the night of the injury, Underwood equated seeing Boswell go down with an injury to feeling ill. Not so sick much from a basketball standpoint, but a personal standpoint.
"You’re just sick. I get a knot in my stomach for Kylan…"
Underwood also explained that the broken hand was the same break in the same hand that Boswell suffered five years ago. He also called it one of those things that is just an unlucky incident that happens in a game.
The injury was "kind of a freak deal," Underwood said when Boswell bumped into another player's arm.
"Unfortunate. Feel terrible for Kylan as he's obviously a senior, and he's having such a phenomenal year," Underwood added. "It's the 'next man up' mentality with our team. It's exciting that we've been able to develop the depth. We'll see what that looks like as we move forward."
In that regard, against Maryland, Illinois did see the next man step up in the form of Andrej Stojakovic. He scored a season-high 30 points on Wednesday night in a 89-70 win over the Maryland Terapins, the first game the Illini played without Boswell.
Nebraska has its own injury questions when looking ahead to February 1 and the Kylan Boswell-less Illini. Braden Frager went down in the Huskers' win earlier this week over Washington. On Thursday, head coach Fred Hoiberg said Frager was "day to day" with a sprained ankle. How soon he'll return to action is still an open question.