2. Illinois could be a dangerous 3-point shooting team
Last season was pretty depressing when it came to shooting the basketball. Illinois was one of the worst teams in the country when it came to three-point shooting, and it was a shock that we could still get to the second round of the NCAA tournament.
Illinois shot 31.3% from three-point range in 2024-25. That was bad enough to rank No. 305 out of 364 teams in DI basketball. All I was looking for was any type of improvement from this horrendous shooting squad.
It might just be Jackson State, but I think Illinois isn’t just improved. I think we might be a dangerous three-point shooting team this season.
Illinois purged the bad three-point shooters from last year’s squad. Kasparas Jakucionis is in the NBA, and he shot 31.8%. Will Riley had the same fate, and he shot 32.6%. Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn was at 25.5%. Tre White was at 32.9%.
Brad Underwood went out and replaced those guys with some talent that looks like they can shoot from three-point range. David Mirkovic is the biggest eye-opener. He was 50% from three-point range against Jackson State. Keaton Wagler was 2-of-2 as well.
Those two helped inject some life into the Illinois three-point shooting. There is also a natural progression in the Underwood offense. Kylan Boswell shot 25% last season, and he was 40% on Monday night. I was pleased with Jake Davis, Tomislav Ivisic, and Ben Humrichous’ shooting as well.
There was a lot more movement against Jackson State. Illinois was setting screens more often, and we were trying to find space rather than just standing around and winging up a contested shot. Dare I say, this Illinois team might be pretty good from three-point range in 2025-26.