Illinois Basketball: 5 observations from the Illini win over Wisconsin

3. The Illini have a great player in Jayden Epps

Illinois basketball played one of the most cohesive games I have seen this season. I believe a lot of that cohesion had to do with Jayden Epps taking over a leadership role on this team.

Epps is just a true freshman, but when he hits the court, you can tell he has “it”. He came off the bench on Saturday but still managed to play 29 minutes, which was fourth on the team. Epps would finish the game with 15 points, three rebounds, two assists, and one steal while hitting 5-of-8 from the field and 2-of-3 from three-point range.

There are a couple of things that stand out to me about Epps’ game besides his great shooting from long range. The first one is tangible. Epps can drive the lane and take contact. When Wisconsin would start scoring and get the deficit to single digits, Epps would drive and get to the charity stripe. He was 3-of-4 from the free throw line against the Badgers.

Leadership is the other thing that stands out to me about Epps’ game. This is something you aren’t definitively going to see in the box score, but you can see it if you have watched the Illini this season.

Epps controls the game. He brings the ball up the court and gets the offense going. Epps doesn’t let the ball get stagnant either. He continues to communicate with his teammates. Epps and Sencire Harris both have leadership qualities. Taking on this responsibility has enabled others, like Terrence Shannon Jr., Matthew Mayer, and Coleman Hawkins, to just go out and play basketball.

I believe Epps is truly a great player. He has the offensive, defensive, and leadership skills this program needed.