Illinois Basketball: 5 observations from the Illini win over Wisconsin

5. Defense comes through again

I feel like Illinois is a completely different team, philosophically, than we were to start the season.

Illinois was a three-point shooting team that was outscoring their opponents in high-scoring affairs to start the 2021-22 campaign. That has all changed as the Illini are now a defensive juggernaut that holds their opponents to low-scoring and bad shooting games.

After the Illini fell to Arizona back on December 11, they were giving up 67.6 points per game, which ranked No. 137 in the nation. Since that game, the Illini has flipped a switch and has been dominant defensively. The Illini are now giving up just 65.9 points per game, which ranks No. 70 in the country.

11 games have been played since that loss to the Wildcats. Out of those 11 games, Illinois has given up fewer than 70 points in nine contests. That is quite an impressive run of defense.

On Wednesday, the Illini displayed their great defensive effort once again. Illinois only gave up 67 points to a Wisconsin team that has one of the top 10 players in college basketball in Johnny Davis. The Illini also held the Badgers to 3-of-24 shooting from three-point range.

If you have ever played golf, you will know that it is hard to have every aspect of your game clicking at the same time. That is kind of how Illinois works. Right now, Illinois’ defense is one of the areas that is carrying this team.