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Illinois senior guard Kylan Boswell will miss at least a month with a right-hand injury, Illini coach Brad Underwood announced Tuesday. Boswell is Illinois' second-leading scorer and has transformed into one of the elite point-of-attack defenders in all of college basketball, who is capable of guarding Cooper Flagg, Purdue's Trey Kaufman-Renn, Northwestern's Nick Martinelli, Iowa's Bennett Stirtz and everyone in between. Boswell suffered the injury in Monday's practice.

The timing is less than ideal for No. 11 Illinois, especially ahead with Saturday's highly-anticipated road tilt against No. 4 Purdue looming. Through two-plus months, Boswell was averaging 14.3 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.8 assists while shooting 82% at the charity stripe.

"Expecting a mid-February return to action for him," Underwood told reporters, via Illini Inquirer. "Unfortunate. Feel terrible for Kylan as he's obviously a senior and he's having such a phenomenal year. 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."

It's a significant blow for Illinois' Big Ten Championship hopes. Illinois is part of a Big Five that has emerged in the Big Ten pecking order. Purdue and Nebraska are a perfect 7-0 with Michigan, Illinois and Michigan State nipping on their heels at 6-1. All five look like second-weekend contenders and worthy Big Ten winners. The calculus changes for the Illini without Boswell, who has been the leader of this club from the jump.

Illinois has winnable home bouts looming like Maryland, Washington, Northwestern and Indiana, but life on the road in the Big Ten is especially brutal, especially without one of the premier defenders in the league. Can it stay in the race?

Where does Illinois turn?

Illinois' offense has been exceptional this year, rating No. 3 nationally in efficiency with a slick mix of size, shooting and offensive rebounding. Boswell is the glue of that unit. The 6-2 senior can get a bucket at all three levels, draw a ton of fouls and operate as a secondary playmaker. 

When Boswell has been on the floor, Illinois has a minuscule 13% turnover rate. When he sits, Illinois' turnover rate spikes to over 20%. Playing mistake-free basketball will be essential for Boswell's replacement to keep this train on the tracks.

Underwood doesn't have an easy plug-and-play replacement, but there are options aplenty. Junior sharpshooter Jake Davis will get some burn. Davis has just two turnovers this season, and he's shooting over 40% from downtown. Underwood could also trot out some more double-big lineups featuring Tomislav and Zvonimir Ivisic to counteract some of the double-big lineups that Purdue and Washington will present in the next nine days. 

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Of course, Keaton Wagler and Andrej Stojakovic become even more essential. Wagler has been a revelation. The 6-6 point guard has emerged as the engine of the Illini. The Big Ten Freshman of the Year frontrunner will have even more on his plate as he navigates the vicious Big Ten. Stojakovic also has to return to early-season form offensively. Illinois had the depth to afford quiet offensive games from Stojakovic in wins over Northwestern and Minnesota last week. Those days are over. Without Boswell, Stojakovic will shoulder more defensive responsibilities. Underwood needs more from his star transfer on both ends immediately.

Illinois could also tap the Mihailo Petrovic button. The Serbian point guard has not been a huge part of this rotation, mostly due to Wagler's emergence into a potential first-round pick and a flat-out star. Can Petrovic defend and play clean basketball? Is playing Petrovic and shifting Wagler to more of an off-ball role good for this club? 

Let the tinkering for the 15-3 Illini begin.

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