Illinois Basketball: 3 ways the Illini can beat the Purdue Boilermakers

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CHAMPAIGN, IL – JANUARY 05: Illinois guard Alan Griffin (0) shoots during a college basketball game between the Purdue Boilermakers and Illinois Fighting Illini on January 5, 2020 at the State Farm Center in Champaign, Ill (Photo by James Black/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

No. 3 Shoot the ball well

Illinois has an offense that is hot and cold at times. They can put up big numbers when they are on fire, but the offense can look a little inept at times when they need to score. We are going to need to be hitting shots on Tuesday, though.

Like previously mentioned, Illinois has had nights of good shooting. The Illini were able to shoot over 43-percent in the first matchup against the Boilermakers. That is a number we should try to hit against on Tuesday.

Illinois is also known to have shooting droughts during games. Shooting droughts cost them games against Maryland, Missouri and Michigan State. Illinois will have to avoid long droughts against Purdue. The Boilermakers are a rough team and want to see a long scoring affair. We can’t have that this time around.

Moving without the ball and some off-ball screens should help free up shooters like Trent Frazier and Alan Griffin. Both of these players had big games against Purdue the last time around. Frazier had 12 points and Griffin had 16 points and 12 rebounds. Their shooting will be a huge factor on if Illinois wins this game.

Next. The legend continues to grow for Trent Frazier. dark

If the Illini are able to do all of these things then they will have a good chance of beating Purdue for the second time. The Orange and Blue will try to improve to 14-5 overall and 6-2 in Big Ten play.

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