Illinois Basketball: 3 ways the Illini can take down Nebraska

3. Non-shooters need to shoot

It is no secret that the Illinois basketball team doesn’t have a bunch of knockdown three-point shooter on the team. Tent Frazier, Alan Griffin, Ayo Dosunmu and Andres Feliz are probably the most comfortable at taking three-pointers for the Illini.

Frazier and Griffin are probably the best deep shooters on the team. If one of these two players is having a bad shooting night, Illinois will need a non-shooter to step up.

The players I am talking about who needs to step up and shoot are Da’monte Williams and Kipper Nichols. I think at least one of these two players will need to make some shots whether it’s a long two or a three.

Williams hasn’t been shy these past games when it comes to shooting the ball. He has attempted seven three-pointers and has made five of them in the past five games. He has gained some confidence in his shot.

Kipper has attempted just two three-pointers and has made none of them in the past five games. He normally never attempts three-point shots unless the defense is backed all the way in the paint.

Illinois does have other players who will have to shoot the ball like Tevian Jones. I thought he would have gained more playing time by making effort plays in against Rutgers, but Jones didn’t get to touch the court against Penn State. Giorgi is the other player. He will most likely come off the bench and probably won’t be out at the three-point line unless he’s in with Kofi.

I expect Illinois to do all three of these things come Monday.  I think the Orange and Blue won’t struggle against Nebraska. This Illinois basketball team will hope to improve to 18-9 overall and 10-6 in the Big ten and start a two-game winning streak.