Illinois Basketball: 4 observations from the Illini win over Indiana

2. Illinois’ defense was suffocating

It isn’t a fluke when Illinois holds their opponents to bad shooting nights from three-point range. It has happened quite often this season.

Illinois has played 22 games this season, and in 11 of the 22 contests, we have held our opponent to 30% or worse from three-point range. That is an incredible stat. To expand that number even further, there have only been four teams this season that shot better than 37.5% from three-point range against the Illini.

The perimeter defense from the Illinois basketball program is some of the best I have seen in years. They continued their great overall defense on Saturday when the Indiana Hoosiers only scored 57 points in the game, and they were held to just 21 points in the second half.

Indiana had no clue what to do in the second half. Illinois held the Hoosiers to just 3-of-13 shooting from three-point range, which comes out to 23.1%, for the game. Their shooting from the field wasn’t much better, as the Hoosiers were just 35.7% on the day.

I think the biggest accomplishment for the Illini defensively was the work on Trayce Jackson-Davis. The potential All-American big man for Indiana finished the game with six points and six rebounds on 3-of-9 shooting from the field. Illinois continued to shut him down, much like they have done his entire collegiate career.

Illinois is a defensive juggernaut. They continue to impress me every week, and the performance they had against Indiana on Saturday was one of the best I have seen this year.