Illinois Basketball: 4 observations from the Illini victory over Wisconsin

3. We didn’t settle

Illinois has a lot of talent on the team even without Ayo Dosunmu suiting up. Most of this talent has the ability to shoot the three-point shot as well.

Even with the ability to shoot from distance, the Illinois players were smart and attacked the hoop. They mainly went into Kofi Cockburn, but as a unit, this team didn’t settle for the three-point shot. They didn’t force the shot. This paid off in the end.

Illinois was 5-of-9 from three-point land against Wisconsin on Saturday. Their nine three-point attempts were the fewest this team has taken during the 2020-21 campaign. The next closest was against Duke when the team shot 11 three-pointers.

What does this mean, though? There are two factors in why Illinois shot fewer three-point shots. One is a negative, as the Illini had 20 turnovers. Having that many turnovers mean you aren’t attempting a shot. More turnovers equal fewer attempts at the basket.

I also believe that Illinois didn’t settle for the three-point shot either. The two players who took the most shots were Kofi Cockburn and Andre Curbelo, both of whom had 13 attempts. Kofi is our big man who dominates in the paint. He isn’t taking three-pointers any time soon.

Curbelo is a talented magician of a point guard who hasn’t developed his three-point shot. He is more of a driver of the ball and scorer at the hoop. He was 1-of-2 from three-point range, but this is not his specialty.

So, 26 of the 48 shots Illinois took against the Badgers were from Kofi and Curbelo. The player with the next highest shot attempts was Da’Monte Williams, who attempted six shots.

Illinois was missing Ayo, who can shoot the three-point shot, but this team didn’t play hero ball and start jacking up three-pointers. They stayed disciplined and knew what their strength was. I love that we didn’t settle. This type of basketball is what we need to play while Ayo is out.