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

5. Forcing Turnovers

On average, Illinois is losing the turnover battle this season. In a previous slide, I talked about the number of turnovers the Illini are giving up in each game, which was 13.4 turnovers per contest.

This number is higher than the turnovers we are causing. The Illini are only taking the ball away from the opposing team 11.8 times per game. So, naturally, if the other team is getting almost two turnovers more per game than the Illini, then we are going to struggling at times.

Illinois causing 11.8 turnovers per game only ranks No. 287 out of 347 teams playing in college basketball. That is a horrific number. What can we do to cause more turnovers, though?

I believe one of the things Illinois can work on this week is more ball pressure. We need to be getting up on the offensive players and not letting them get into their sets. This would also help with the previous slide of bringing down the opposing team’s three-point percentage as well.

Cracking down on the post is another way to help force more turnovers. Kofi Cockburn is a great asset to have in the paint, but if we can have some help defense for the big man, then the opposing offense is a lot more likely to turn the ball over. Our guards on the perimeter need to make sure they are rotating properly so there isn’t a wide-open three-pointer, though.

Illinois isn’t great at forcing turnovers, and it has shown this season. If we can start winning the turnover battle more often, then we should be able to win a lot of games to finish the year. More pressure is the key in this situation.