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Illinois Basketball: 5 takeaways from the Illini loss to Penn State

By Rees Woodcock

LINCOLN, NE - JANUARY 15: Illinois head coach Brad Underwood is yelling at Illinois guard Trent Frazier (1) for a foul during the first half of a college basketball game Monday, January 15th at the Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Nebraska. Nebraska defeated Illinois 64 to 63. (Photo by John Peterson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
LINCOLN, NE - JANUARY 15: Illinois head coach Brad Underwood is yelling at Illinois guard Trent Frazier (1) for a foul during the first half of a college basketball game Monday, January 15th at the Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Nebraska. Nebraska defeated Illinois 64 to 63. (Photo by John Peterson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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ANN ARBOR, MI – JANUARY 06: Illinois Fighting Illini guard Te’Jon Lucas (3) drives to the basket against Michigan Wolverines guard Zavier Simpson (3) during a regular season Big 10 Conference basketball game between the Illinois Fighting Illini and the Michigan Wolverines on January 6, 2018 at the Crisler Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan. (Photo by Scott W. Grau/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
ANN ARBOR, MI – JANUARY 06: Illinois Fighting Illini guard Te’Jon Lucas (3) drives to the basket against Michigan Wolverines guard Zavier Simpson (3) during a regular season Big 10 Conference basketball game between the Illinois Fighting Illini and the Michigan Wolverines on January 6, 2018 at the Crisler Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan. (Photo by Scott W. Grau/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

3. Illini aren’t aggressive enough when shots aren’t falling

There have been many times this season where the basketball just doesn’t go in the hoop for long stretches. This is usually where the Illini lose their lead and end up losing the game.

Illinois needs to find ways to score when these droughts happen. No matter what they do, the Illini will go on long droughts. To help put points on the board, they need to start getting to the basket and making the refs blow the whistle.

On Sunday night, Illinois ended up shooting 20-of-51 from the field which is 39.2-percent. They were also 5-of-19 from the three-point arc which is 26.3-percent. I don’t think they can beat any DI team shooting that bad. So, what they should have done is try to get to the free throw line. That didn’t happen either.

Illinois only ended up shooting 12 free throws on Sunday night. This was a home game as well. In the Big Ten, usually home teams get the benefit of the doubt and you see somewhat of a free throw disparity. That wasn’t the case for the Illini. They only shot one more free throw than Penn State.

On top of that, the Illinois starters only managed to shoot five free throws on the night and their guards only shot one. How is that even possible? Trent Frazier, Aaron Jordan and Mark Alstork should have been able to get to the free throw line a lot more than they did.

Illinois will go through droughts. This will happen every game, but to combat it they will need to get to the free throw line. This isn’t happening and that trend needs to change.

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