Illinois Basketball: 5 observations from the Illini win over Alabama A&M

4. Another bad three-point shooting night

Illinois hit a stretch of games where we were clicking from three-point range. We were knocking down shots, and this was one of the main reasons we were winning games.

Against UCLA, Illinois ended up going 12-of-25 from three-point range, which is 48%. We were knocking down three-pointers at a clip of 43.5% against Texas, and that is how we were able to take down the No. 2 team in the country.

But, as of late, Illinois’ three-point shooting is not where I want it. In fact, the Illini have not been shooting the ball well from deep whatsoever.

Illinois was 7-of-23 from three-point range against Penn State, which comes out to 30.4%. That is a really bad number, but the Illini decided to top that bad three-point shooting performance with another one against Alabama A&M.

On Saturday, the Illini once again made seven three-pointers, but this time around we had more attempts. Illinois was just 7-of-27 from three-point range against the Bulldogs, which comes out to 25.9%. That is slightly better than the worst three-point shooting performance of the season which was against Maryland where we shot 25% from deep.

It seems that in every game, one player is hot from three-point range and the rest of the team doesn’t play well. Matthew Mayer was the guy on Saturday, as he was 3-of-6 from distance. The other four Illinois starters were a combined 4-of-16 from three-point range, though.

I think our three-point shooting effectiveness goes back to the first slide of this article. Illinois needs to pass with a purpose. There were so many open three-point shots that were passed up against Alabama A&M. That can’t keep happening. If we can start passing with a purpose and get a man open, then the three-pointers will start dropping again.