Illinois Basketball: 3 ways the Illini can beat Minnesota

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ANN ARBOR, MI – JANUARY 25: Michigan Wolverines forward Austin Davis (51) shoots over Illinois Fighting Illini center Kofi Cockburn (21) during a regular season Big Ten Conference game between the Illinois Fighting Illini (21) and the Michigan Wolverines on January 25, 2020, at Crisler Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Illinois defeated Michigan 64-62. (Photo by Scott W. Grau/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

No. 1 Stay out of foul trouble

Illinois players have struggled at times this season to stay out of foul trouble. They have been better at being aggressive on defense, but the only problem with playing more aggressively on defense is that it can lead to players getting into foul trouble.

The Illini average 15.5 fouls per game, which ranks at No. 61 in the nation. This number is better than last year as they averaged 21.1 FPG. The fouls per game dropping is great, but Illinois still can’t afford to get into foul trouble because of their lack of depth.

Depth has kind of reared it’s ugly head in their last game against Michigan. When Trent Frazier got into foul trouble, it hurt Illinois because they had no players on the court who were shooting threats. Andres Feliz, Da’Monte Williams and Kipper Nichols aren’t three-point shooters. It took some heroics from Ayo Dosunmu for Illinois to pull out the win.

Alan Griffin is suspended for this game, which hurts Illinois if they get into foul trouble. We have little to no shooting threats coming off the bench beside Tevian Jones. But he hasn’t had a lot of opportunities to get in the flow of the game, which is a problem.

If Illinois gets into foul trouble, it will be hard for them to win. We have to play smart basketball on Thursday.

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