Illinois Basketball: 5 eye-popping stats for the Illini this season
![Jan 21, 2022; College Park, Maryland, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini guard Da'Monte Williams (20) shoots over ]Maryland Terrapins guard Eric Ayala (5) during the first half at Xfinity Center. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_1080,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape%2Fcover%2Fsport%2Fb6cd262ffe7138352d0112152a396b84c791a9b29580c6732ec72505a08c0534.jpg "Jan 21, 2022; College Park, Maryland, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini guard Da'Monte Williams (20) shoots over ]Maryland Terrapins guard Eric Ayala (5) during the first half at Xfinity Center. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports")
3. Monte the magician
I have given Da’Monte Williams some flack this season for not being able to score the basketball enough. He has struggled greatly on the offensive end of the court.
But I may need to take a step back and reassess everything. Williams’ role on this Illinois basketball team is different than his role last season. He isn’t looked to this year to be a scorer. The Illini need him as a facilitator, and that is exactly what he has been.
Williams has played in every game for the Illini this season and really started to hone his game in an efficient way. He is averaging 3.1 assists per game, which is No. 3 on the team, but with Andre Curbelo missing most of the season, Williams has needed to be a good facilitator.
The 3.1 assists per game isn’t the eye-popping number for Williams. While that is a good number, the eye-popping number for Williams this season is his assist-to-turnover ratio.
Williams has stepped into a different role this season and has been extremely efficient. He currently holds a 2.8 assist-to-turnover ratio for the 2021-22 campaign. That ranks No. 55 in the nation. So, for every one turnover Williams has, he has 2.8 assists.
I probably don’t appreciate enough what Williams has done this season. He has been a Swiss Army Knife for the program, and he is being extremely efficient with the basketball. It is eye-popping to me that he is one of the most efficient players in the country.