Illinois Basketball: 4 keys for the Illini to take down Minnesota
By Collin Allen
The Illinois basketball team will be hosted by a tough Minnesota program on Saturday afternoon.
Illinois will look to extend their current six-game winning streak as they travel to take on the Minnesota Golden Gophers this Saturday. This will be the second matchup between the two teams this season, as the Illini handily defeated the Gophers 92-65 in the Big Ten opener on December 15.
Here are four keys for the Illini to complete the season sweep over the Gophers.
1. Exploit the Gopher’s poor defense
One of the biggest weaknesses for the Gophers this season has been their inability to stop opposing offenses. The Orange and Blue have a massive opportunity to put a lot of points on the board like they were able to in their previous matchup versus the Gophers.
The Gophers’ defense ranks No. 234 in the nation, allowing opposing offenses to score 72.6 points per contest. This will certainly be an unfavorable matchup for the Gopher defense, as the Illini rank No. 20 in the country in scoring offense, averaging 81.2 points per game.
Minnesota’s defense has also struggled to force turnovers, as they’re only averaging 6.2 steals per contest, which ranks No. 196. As long as the Illini are making wise decisions and taking care of the ball, they should not have to worry about turning the ball over.