Writing Illini
Fansided

Illinois Basketball: 5 things the Illini need to fix before the Iowa game

By Rees Woodcock

Dec 2, 2020; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Brad Underwood talks with guard Andre Curbelo (5) and guard Ayo Dosunmu (11) in the second half against the Baylor Bears at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 2, 2020; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Brad Underwood talks with guard Andre Curbelo (5) and guard Ayo Dosunmu (11) in the second half against the Baylor Bears at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 5
Next
Illinois basketball
Nov 26, 2020; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini guard Andre Curbelo (5) goes up for a shot during the second half against the Chicago State Cougars at the State Farm Center. Mandatory Credit: Patrick Gorski-USA TODAY Sports /

Illinois basketball hasn’t played a game since January 19 and won’t play again until January 29 due to COVID-19.

This layoff will probably make us a little rusty come Friday when the Illini look to knock off a top 10 ranked Iowa Hawkeyes team. But, with this small layoff, there is time to focus on fixing a few issues with the program.

Here are five things to fix before the Iowa game.

1. Turnovers

Illinois is an exciting team to watch every night. They have some flash this year on the team, and that is something that I haven’t seen in a while. But with flash comes some sloppy play.

There have been plenty of games this season where the turnover bug has struck the Illini and it has caused them to get into a hole.

One example would be in the first Penn State game this season. Illinois had two turnovers in the first five minutes, and the Nittany Lions went up on the Illini 19-4. Thankfully, the sloppy play didn’t continue, and Illinois managed to get back and win the game by double-digits.

In the Rutgers loss, Illinois was up five points with 16 minutes to go in the game. They would proceed to have six turnovers in the next nine minutes and would get into a double-digit hole.

The latest example of turnovers killing the Illini was against Ohio State. Illinois would have six turnovers in the first 15 minutes of that game, and the Buckeyes would find themselves up 18 points at one point.

Turnovers, overall, have been a problem this season for Illinois. It has killed them in multiple games, and stats show they are one of the worst teams in the nation when it comes to giving the ball away. The Illini currently average 13.4 turnovers per game, which ranks No. 156 in the nation.

Home/Illinois Basketball