Illinois Basketball: 4 stats to watch for Illini G Ayo Dosunmu

2. Three-point field goal attempts

Usually, when someone attempts fewer shots, it won’t stand out as a good thing. Fewer shots tend to mean fewer points. But that isn’t the case at all with Ayo Dosunmu.

As a freshman, Ayo seemed eager to show the world that he was a talented player. We all knew this was the case, but he wanted to display his full repertoire of basketball skills. That didn’t translate well at the three-point arc.

Ayo hit 1.6 out of the 4.4 three-pointers he attempted every game, which came out to 35.2-percent from deep. This isn’t a horrific number, but it isn’t good by any means. While he didn’t shoot well from deep, he was still able to put up 13.8 points per game.

But Ayo knew what he needed to do to improve the team. In year two, he shifted some of the focus away from his three-point shooting and started getting to the bucket a little more. He also developed a nice mid-range jumper.

Ayo’s three-point shooting percentage dropped to 29.6-percent in year two, but that is due to the fact he was shooting fewer deep shots. He was hitting 1 out of every 3.3 three-pointers he was taking in each game. Instead, Ayo shifted his three-point focus into being a more effective scorer.

Despite shooting fewer three-point shots, Ayo increased the number of field goals he took each game by nearly two. He also increased his scoring to 16.6 points per game, which helped the team greatly.

So, while taking fewer three-point shots doesn’t seem like a big deal, it actually was for Ayo and the Illini last season. He shifted his game to help the team and to help put up better numbers. This was a great move for the young guard.