Illinois vs. Rutgers: 5 storyline for matchup of top-25 Big Ten teams

Adam Miller and Andre Curbelo

The Fighting Illini have a pair of freshman guards who are fighting to be relevant to their team’s success. Adam Miller is fighting to become relevant once again and Andre Curbelo is fighting to stay relevant. The story arc of both these freshmen are entwined with Dosunmu’s perception that any and all decision making down the stretch is placed upon his shoulders and his alone.

Miller began his NCAA career resembling the best freshman in the Big Ten, by scoring 28 points versus North Carolina A&T on 10 of 12 shooting. He would follow that performance with 15  points and 11 points in consecutive victories. Then came the ranked teams and subsequently Miller scored four versus Baylor, nine versus Duke, and two versus Missouri. Two of those games correspond with difficulties Dosunmu had as well.

Even with Miller recently scoring 14 versus Minnesota, there has been more talk about the importance of Curbelo than Miller. Despite not being in the starting line-up while averaging slightly over 21 minutes, Curbelo has scored double-digits in three of the last four games, which includes the three ranked teams.

In the one game he did not reach double-digits he accounted for nine points and nine assists. Expecting the two freshmen to get playing time and decision making responsibility instead of the trio of seniors of Dosunmu, Trent Frazier, and Da’Monte Williams in crunch time might be misguided,  they do need to be another option for Dosunmu when he makes decisions.