3. Keep the Spartans out of the paint
Michigan State has a ton of talent. As I mentioned in a previous slide, they can go 10 deep without missing a beat. That is hard to do for any program in the country.
But the Spartans do have some weaknesses. They aren’t a great shooting team, and most of their production on the offensive end of the court comes from inside the three-point arc.
That means Illinois needs to play great paint defense. If we can keep Michigan State out of the paint, then Illinois can win this game.
In the last game against Penn State, the Spartans only hit 26.1% from three-point range. This has been about on par with what they have done all season, as Michigan State is only hitting 28.7% from three-point range. That is bad enough to rank No. 341 out of 364 teams in DI basketball.
On top of the struggles from the outside, the Spartans have relied a lot on point production from inside the three-point arc. 79.3% of Michigan State’s points come from inside the three-point arc, which includes 56.1% of their points coming from two-point range. That ranks No. 27 in the nation.
A strategy for the Illini should be to lock down the paint. A heavy dose of Tomislav Ivisic and Morez Johnson Jr. is going to be needed. They are both great at shot-blocking and protecting the rim.
Illinois’ guards keeping their man in front of them is going to be important too. We can’t let them drive into the paint because then everything breaks down. We will have to have great communication in the pick-and-roll defense. Shutting down Michigan State in the paint is going to be a huge key to getting the win.