Illinois Basketball: Illini freshman trio plus-minus is eye opening

The men’s Illinois basketball team has a special freshman trio who are helping take this program to great heights.

Through 24 games this season, the Illini sit at 17-7 overall and 8-5 in the Big Ten. After a lackluster beginning, we have now rattled off eight wins in our last 10 games, and things seem to be trending in the right direction.

I would say there are a few reasons for the success of the program. One of the bigger reasons is the contributions of the class of 2022.

Illinois had a class pledge to the program that ranked No. 11 in the country. Three of the freshmen – Ty Rodgers, Jayden Epps, Sencire Harris – have formed a young trio that has not only contributed minutes to the team, but they are foundation pieces of this program in year one.

Illinois basketball needs more of Ty Rodgers, Jayden Epps, and Sencire Harris on the court at the same time.

Each freshman has their own special set of skills. They all do great things for the team while on the court as well.

Jayden Epps is the main scorer out of the three freshmen. He is averaging 9.9 points, 2.1 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game while shooting 43.1% from the field.

Sencire Harris and Ty Rodgers are more of the do-it-all guys. Harris has great defensive savvy and is as quick as anyone I have seen for the program since Dee Brown. Rodgers is more of an athletic freak who can get to the rim and is tenacious on the glass.

These freshmen have gelled nicely with the upperclassmen, but what if I told you that when on the court at the same time, the freshman trio seems to play even better?

I compiled the numbers. I went through every game and put together the plus/minus for the Illinois basketball team when the freshman trio is on the court. I also totaled up the time the three have played together.

What I found out was, this freshman trio plays pretty well together, and Illinois is a dangerous team when they are all on the court at the same time.

For the season, the freshman trio has been on the court together for a total of 93:15. In that time, they have a plus/minus of +53. That means Illinois is beating opponents by 53 total points when these three freshmen are on the court at the same time.

Let’s break down the numbers even more. Out of the 24 games this season, the freshman trio has only had four negative games. They were -2 against Maryland but only saw 1:11 in that game, -4 against Alabama A&M and saw just 4:23 together, -1 against Northwestern but played a total of 0:04 together, and -1 against Iowa but only played 0:09 together.

There are some big eye-openers on the positive side. In the last game against No. 24 Rutgers, Illinois only won by nine points, but the freshman trio was +8 in 3:50 together on the court. In the first Wisconsin game, the Illini only won by 10 points. The freshman trio was +7 in that contest and were on the court for 5:10 together.

I would say the thing that baffled me the most is the fact that the freshmen trio were +7 in that Wisconsin game and then +4 in the Nebraska game, but then Brad Underwood didn’t play them together in the Michigan State, Indiana, Ohio State, and second Wisconsin game. He did play them 2:14 in the Minnesota win. So, the freshmen trio played 2:14 in a five-game span.

When the freshmen are on the floor together, it always seemed like they were playing well. The team seemed to be doing better. These numbers, to me, prove that Rodgers, Epps, and Harris need to be on the court together at the same time more often. They aren’t just the future of Illinois basketball, they are the present as well.