Illinois Basketball: 5 observations from the Illini win over the Minnesota Golden Gophers

4. Illinois is a scary team with Jayden Epps shooting well

While this victory over Minnesota was a sloppy win, there are still plenty of positives to take away. I already mentioned multiple positives in previous slides, and one of the biggest eye-opening things on Monday night was Jayden Epps starting to come alive.

For the entire season, you could see glimpses of the talent that Epps brings to the table. His little finger roll floater off the glass should be in an art gallery it is so beautiful. That shot alone makes him a special player.

Illinois fans have seen flashes of Epps’ ability to hit the three-point shot as well. The biggest problem with Epps and his three-point shot is the fact he is inconsistent. On Monday against Minnesota, Epps finally broke out and had a big shooting night.

Epps would finish the game with 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the field and 4-of-6 from three-point range. It was so nice seeing him making shots from deep. We haven’t seen that in quite some time.

In the prior six games, Epps was just 3-of-26 from three-point range. He made more three-pointers on Monday than he had in the prior six games. His four three-pointers were also his second-highest of the season, only behind the five three-pointers he made against Monmouth.

Illinois has a special player with Epps. He is someone who is going to be looked at as a leader entering next season. Hopefully, we can continue getting this type of shooting out of him this year. I think Illinois could make a deep run if that happens.