Illinois Basketball: 5 observations from the Illini win over Wisconsin

4. Extremely efficient game

Alright, I got the one negative slide out of the way. Now let’s shift back into the positives and talk about how amazingly efficient Illinois has become as a team.

Back on December 11, Illinois fell to the Arizona Wildcats in a heartbreaking defeat. We could have won that game, but we let it slip away. A big reason for the loss was due to turnovers. Illinois was one of the most reckless teams at the time.

After that Arizona loss, the Illini were averaging 15.9 turnovers per game, which ranked No. 322 in the country. Since that time, the efficiency of the Orange and Blue has increased greatly.

With the win last night where Illinois had just six turnovers, the team is now averaging 13 turnovers per game this season, which ranks No. 179 in the country. Over the last three games, we are averaging just nine turnovers per game.

On Wednesday night, the Illini were extra efficient with the basketball. The six turnovers are tied for a season-low, and our assist-to-turnover ratio was through the roof. Illinois had 21 assists to just six turnovers, which comes out to a 3.5 assist-to-turnover ratio. That is well above the season average of 1.223 assist-to-turnover ratio.

Don’t look now but Illinois is one of the most efficient teams in the nation. We are moving the ball and not coughing it up. This efficiency surge is why we continue winning games.