Illinois Basketball: 4 keys for the Illini to beat the Rutgers Scarlet Knights

4. Make Rutgers shoot three-pointers

I know, this doesn’t make much sense considering what Rutgers did to Illinois in the first game. The Scarlet Knights went 9-of-15 from three-point range, which is 60-percent.

That is an insane number, so why in the world would I say for Illinois to make Rutgers shoot three-pointers? Because they aren’t very good from distance this season. That first game against the Illini was a massive outlier to what Rutgers has done so far this year.

Rutgers has struggled from behind the three-point arc more times than not. They currently sport a 31.4-percent three-point shooting average this season, which ranks No. 280 in the nation. That is near the bottom of all teams in college basketball.

Ron Harper Jr., who I mentioned in the first slide, takes the highest volume of three-point shots for the Scarlet Knights, but he is hitting them at a clip of 32.3-percent, which is pretty horrific. Geo Baker is the second-highest volume three-point shooter, and he is only hitting them at a clip of 31.1-percent.

So, Illinois was burnt in the first game from behind the three-point arc. Don’t expect that to happen again. The Illini just caught Rutgers on an on-night. This doesn’t happen often. Let’s continue playing tough perimeter defense, but mainly make sure the Scarlet Knights aren’t getting the ball in the paint. Let’s keep them out on the three-point arc and make them make shots.