4 keys for the Illinois basketball team to beat Northwestern

3. Don’t get lazy on the perimeter

There are a few areas where Northwestern can hold their own at times. One of those areas is from beyond the three-point arc.

For the season, Northwestern is hitting 33.3% of their three-point shots, which ranks No. 163 in the country. The Wildcats also have a couple of players who can shoot from deep and have decent size.

Brooks Barnhizer, at 6-foot-6, is someone who knocks down 38.9% from three-point range and can rebound the basketball well. He is going to be an issue for Illinois. That said, we can’t get lazy on the perimeter and hope for misses.

Northwestern is going to screen a lot, and if Illinois slacks off, they will knock down shots. That is how they can get momentum and the belief they can beat us. We can’t have that happen.

Illinois needs to have good communication with switches and make sure that we are working through screens rather than dropping off and going around. If the Wildcats start knocking down shots, it could end up being a much closer game than anyone had hoped.

My hope is that Illinois remains true to what we have done the entire season. This is an Illini squad that has held opponents to just 26.0% from three-point range, which is good enough to rank No. 12 in the country. If we can hold the Wildcats to that number, this game is going to get ugly.