2. Illinois attacked the offensive glass
There are a lot of things that make this Illinois basketball team special. I can point to the great point guard in Kasparas Jakucionis. We have talented paint players. Our three-point shooting is pretty special as well.
In each game, there are numbers that go unnoticed. Illinois’ ability to rebound the basketball is impressive, but what is even more impressive is the offensive rebound numbers.
For the season, Illinois averages 12.0 offensive rebounds per game, which ranks No. 14 in the nation. That is a great number that I would take every day of the week and twice on Sundays. But in the game against Indiana, Illinois took its offensive rebounding up a notch.
Despite Oumar Ballo pulling down a total of 15 rebounds in the game, Illinois was able to dominate on the offensive glass. We were able to blow away the season average and pull down 16 offensive rebounds against the Hoosiers.
Let that sink in for a second. 16 offensive rebounds is 16 extra chances to score the basketball. On top of that, Indiana only had eight offensive rebounds.
Illinois’ big man duo of Tomislav Ivisic and Morez Johnson Jr. have been sensational in the rebounding department. Those two combined for nine out of the 16 offensive rebounds in the game.
If the Illini can double up its opponents when it comes to offensive rebounds, we probably won’t lose the rest of the way out. 16 offensive rebounds is an insane number.