Illinois Basketball: 5 observations from the Illini win over Wisconsin

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Jan 7, 2023; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini forward Matthew Mayer (24) drives to the basket as Wisconsin Badgers guard Connor Essegian (3) and teammate Chucky Hepburn (23) defend during the second half at State Farm Center. Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-USA TODAY Sports /

Illinois basketball needed a big win on Saturday, and we got that huge victory against No. 14 Wisconsin.

The Illini have had a rough stretch as a program over the past month or so. We were 3-4 since December 2, and the team wasn’t feeling like a cohesive unit. On top of that, freshman point guard Skyy Clark is now taking a leave of absence.

Everything seemed to be crumbling for the Orange and Blue. But this adversity seemed to make the team even stronger. The younger guys took a bigger role on the team, and Illinois’ veterans turned their offensive game up a notch. This mixture resulted in Illinois beating Wisconsin, 79-69.

Here are five observations from the Illinois basketball win over Wisconsin.

1. Illinois took care of the ball

I would argue this was one of the best wins of the season for the Illinois basketball program. I say this not because of the team we beat but because of how we played on the court.

Illinois finally had a decently clean game. It has been a long time since I could say that. Coming into the Wisconsin game, the Illini had an assist-to-turnover ratio of 0.934, which ranked No. 212 in the country. That was one of the weaker spots on the team.

Against the Badgers, Illinois would finish with 14 assists to 10 turnovers, which comes out to a 1.4 assist-to-turnover ratio. That would land us at No. 31 in the country.

The 10 turnovers Illinois had are the second-lowest this season by the program. The only other game lower was the 29-point throttling of Syracuse where we had just eight turnovers.

When it comes to assists, the 14 assists against Wisconsin were the second-most for the Illini in the past eight games. The only other game to have a higher assist total was the 33-point victory over Bethune-Cookman.

Illinois finally took care of the basketball, and this style proves to be a successful way to play. I believe this style has a lot to do with some adjustments Brad Underwood made against Wisconsin. Illinois had both freshmen, Sencire Harris and Jayden Epps, as the point guards on Saturday. They would both bring the ball up the court and get the offense started. That was huge for this program.

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