Illinois Basketball: 4 big statistics from the Illini win over Nebraska

Illinois basketball narrowly squeaked out a win over Nebraska on Friday night, 77-72.

It took an overtime period, but the Illini managed to knock off the Cornhuskers. This was one of the worst games Illinois has played all year, but a win is a win. This victory moves the Illini to 14-5 overall and 10-3 in Big Ten play. Some big numbers came out of the win as well.

Here are four big statistics from the Illini win over Nebraska.

1. -1

Illinois is a great rebounding team led by big man, Kofi Cockburn. We also have some talented guards who can go up and crash the glass. That is why, nationally, the Illini are recognized as one of the best teams in the rebounding department.

Going into the Nebraska game on Friday night, the Illini were pulling down 40.5 rebounds per contest, which ranked No. 13 in the nation. There was no reason to think that someone like Nebraska was going to outrebound the Orange and Blue. But I was wrong.

Illinois had a -1 rebounding margin against the Cornhuskers.

It isn’t often you see the Illini have a negative rebounding margin. Usually, we are in the positive by quite a few in this statistical category. But not on Friday night.

In fairness to Illinois, Nebraska isn’t a bad rebounding team. They entered the game pulling down 37.2 rebounds per contest, which ranked No. 86 in the nation. So, we were actually going up against a solid rebounding program in the Cornhuskers.

Nebraska won the rebounding margin 40-39. Illinois was about at their average and the Cornhuskers overshot their average by a couple. This wasn’t a terrible rebounding game by the Illini, but Nebraska’s ability to crash the boards kept them in the game.