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Illinois Basketball: How to beat the Longwood Lancers

By Rees Woodcock

LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 06: Basketballs are shown in a ball rack before a semifinal game of the West Coast Conference Basketball Tournament between the Santa Clara Broncos and the Gonzaga Bulldogs at the Orleans Arena on March 6, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Gonzaga won 77-68. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 06: Basketballs are shown in a ball rack before a semifinal game of the West Coast Conference Basketball Tournament between the Santa Clara Broncos and the Gonzaga Bulldogs at the Orleans Arena on March 6, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Gonzaga won 77-68. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /
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The Illinois basketball team takes on the Longwood Lancers tonight in what should be a fairly easy contest.

Illinois comes into this game losing four out of their last five in heartbreaking fashion. They have been in every game so far, which is a nice change of pace from the previous coaching regime. Plus, the Illini players have dealt with some adversity already and that will only make them tougher for the upcoming Big Ten slate.

But first, the Illini have to finish their non-conference schedule starting with Longwood. This is not a good team so Illinois shouldn’t have a problem putting them away quickly. They are only 3-6 on the season and their three victories were to non-DI programs.

Honestly, the Lancers only have two scoring threats Illinois has to shut down. Isaiah Walton leads Longwood in scoring averaging 18.9 points per game. He is a big guard who could give Mark Alstork some trouble out on the perimeter. Walton is extremely good from long range as well, so perimeter defense has to be an area of focus for Brad Underwood tonight.

The other top scorer for Longwood is BK Ashe. He is a 6-foot-1 guard who is averaging 14.7 PPG this season but is doing it inefficiently. He is only shooting 42.6-percent from the field and 27.9-percent from the three-point arc. This is a Lancers team that lives and dies by the three-point shot. They don’t go into the paint a lot and that is great news for the Illini who will be missing Leron Black tonight with an injury.

Longwood doesn’t put too many points on the board either. As a team, they average 60.2 PPG which ranks No. 340 in the nation. There are a total of 351 DI basketball teams. All Illinois has to do is stick to their fundamentals Underwood has taught them, and I could see Longwood only putting up maybe 50 points tonight.

Usually, with teams who don’t score a lot of points, their defense makes up for their lack of offense. That isn’t the case with Longwood. They are bad on defense as well. They average giving up 76.8 PPG which ranks No. 239 in the nation. Illinois has an opportunity to drop a big number tonight. As long as the Illini continue to move the ball, I look for them to put up potentially 100 points.

Next: Takeaways from the Illini loss to UNLV

Getting this win isn’t complicated. Illinois just needs to use this game to get back to the fundamentals that Underwood has taught them and to become a more crisp basketball team moving forward.

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