3. Amazingly efficient game from the Illini
An efficient Illinois basketball team is a scary Illinois basketball team. In the game against Indiana, we got to see one of the most efficient Illini squads in quite some time.
Illinois ended the night with six turnovers. That number blows away our season average of 11.6 turnovers per game. It was also one of the best turnover showings of the season.
The six turnovers the Illini had against the Hoosiers were the second-fewest we have seen from this team. The only lower turnover game came against Southern Illinois-Edwardsville in the second game of the season.
On top of those impressive numbers, this is the first time Illinois has had fewer than 10 turnovers since late November. This doesn’t come as a surprise, though.
Kasparas Jakucionis was back in action. He accounted for half of Illinois’ turnovers, but he improves everyone else around him. That is the sign of a great player. Can you elevate the play of your teammates, and Jakucionis can do that to the highest degree.
Illinois is now 4-0 when we have fewer than 10 turnovers per game. We are winning those four games by an average of 40.5 points per game. If we can keep the turnovers down, then I imagine we can go deep in March.