If we didn't know better, we would think Illinois basketball's season is already in full swing. The Illini, who just played Friday night against Baylor, are back at it for another exhibition outing on Wednesday against in-state Missouri Valley squad UIC.

Here are three areas to monitor as Illinois strives to find its rhythm before the 2026-27 campaign officially gets underway:

3 areas to monitor as Illinois basketball faces UIC in final exhibition game

The defensive glass

Anyone following Illinois’ first two exhibition games couldn’t have missed it: The Illini have been horrid on the defensive boards. Both Cincinnati and Baylor snagged at least 12 offensive rebounds apiece, with the Bears grabbing a whopping 22.

A mid-major program like UIC surely couldn't challenge Illinois in that department, though, right? Wrong. The Flames are loaded with length and athleticism across their roster, and they put an emphasis on attacking the offensive boards.

Last season UIC’s offensive rebounding rate of 36.3 percent ranked No. 22 in the country. It’s impossible to expect the Illini to come down with every shot the Flames put up, but it needs to be demonstrably better in the category against UIC than it has been in its first two exhibitions.

Which freshmen will shine this time?

First, it was Ethan Brown and Quentin Coleman against Cincinnati. Then it was Lincoln Williams against Baylor (and, of course, Coleman again). So who will be it when UIC rolls into town?

Lincoln takes it to the rim!

Watch on B1G+ pic.twitter.com/e4pHOqjCIp

— Illinois Men's Basketball (@IlliniMBB) October 24, 2026

Scorching-hot take: Bet on Coleman. (OK, that's kinda lukewarm.) But who else might join him in the limelight, especially with so many Illini currently banged up? Zavier Zens and Lucas Morillo were both solid against Baylor. Landon Davis, who had some flashes at Cincy, was a non-factor against the Bears, but he may bounce back.

Given the matchup – UIC is a defensive-oriented squad that makes getting to the rack quite the ordeal, especially for freshmen – it may be a shooter’s night. We’ll make a prediction: Zens cracks double digits in scoring and builds some momentum heading into the regular season.

The Illini defense

Box scores never tell the full story, but as far as Illinois’ first two exhibition games are concerned, they say enough: Baylor scored 95 points and Cincinnati scored 96. (For context, the Bears put up 82 points against Florida in their prior exhibition game – which included overtime. They had 63 at halftime in Champaign.)

Maybe that was just because of the Illini’s pace? Sure, that played a role. But the efficiency numbers – both Illinois opponents shot at least 47 percent from the field and 36 percent from deep – send a clear message that tempo wasn’t the lone factor at play in both Baylor and Cincinnati racking up points.

And the other biggie on that end: defending guards. Cincinnati’s Tylen Riley had 31 points and 13 assists. Baylor guard Kayden Mingo dropped 24, while Isaac Williams chipped in a cool 28 off the bench.

It seems to be a blend of communication woes – specifically, the lack of it – scouting report miscues and on-ball defense shortcomings. Let’s see if the Illini take a step in the right direction Wednesday.