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Illinois Basketball: 5 keys for the Illini to beat the Arkansas Razorbacks

By Rees Woodcock

Feb 18, 2023; Bloomington, Indiana, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini forward Matthew Mayer (24) dribbless the ball while Indiana Hoosiers guard Jalen Hood-Schifino (1) defends in the first half at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 18, 2023; Bloomington, Indiana, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini forward Matthew Mayer (24) dribbless the ball while Indiana Hoosiers guard Jalen Hood-Schifino (1) defends in the first half at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports /
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Nov 18, 2022; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini guard Terrence Shannon Jr. (0) shoots against UCLA Bruins guard Jaylen Clark (0) during the second half at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 18, 2022; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini guard Terrence Shannon Jr. (0) shoots against UCLA Bruins guard Jaylen Clark (0) during the second half at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports /

2. Illini win the three-point battle

I have watched Illinois basketball in four decades now, and this is by far the worst three-point shooting team I have ever seen. I might be slightly exaggerating because there were some bad shooting teams in the late 2000s, but this one is right up there with the worst.

Coming into the Arkansas game, the Illini are shooting 30.9% from three-point range this season. That is bad enough to rank No. 331 out of 363 DI programs. There are only a handful of teams that made the NCAA tournament and are shooting worse than Illinois in the three-point department.

On top of Illinois being bad at shooting the ball from distance, most of the teams we play against have beaten us at the three-point arc. The Illini have only shot a better three-point percentage than our opponent one time in the past 13 contests. That was against a bad Minnesota bunch.

One saving grace is the fact Arkansas is also a bad three-point shooting team. They are only shooting 31.7% from three-point range, which ranks No. 304 in the country.

If Illinois wants to win this game, I think we need to win the three-point battle. That might only mean shooting 34% or better, but that would also be a vast improvement from our season average. A couple more three-pointers going in the bucket could be make-or-break for the Orange and Blue.

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