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3 Illinois basketball stats that need to improve before the NCAA tournament

By Rees Woodcock

Feb 13, 2024; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini forward Ty Rodgers (20) pressures
Feb 13, 2024; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini forward Ty Rodgers (20) pressures / Ron Johnson-USA TODAY Sports
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Illinois basketball got back on the winning track on Tuesday night with a win over Michigan.

This was a big win for the Illini. While Michigan is a garbage team right now, Illinois needed a good confidence win. Beating the Wolverines by 29 points was a big deal.

Illinois needs to continue winning and playing good basketball the rest of the way out. If we want to go deep in the NCAA tournament, there are some numbers that need to improve.

Here are three Illinois basketball stats that need to improve before the NCAA tournament

1. Opponent turnovers

Illinois is coming off a game against Michigan where we did an okay job at forcing turnovers. The Wolverines weren’t much of a match for the Illini, and the 11 turnovers we forced were big in the win.

11 turnovers is a lot compared to what Illinois has done the past month or so. That is the most turnovers forced since January 21, and the second time Illinois has forced double-digit turnovers in the past 10 games.

While getting to that double-digit turnover mark seems like a big accomplishment, it is actually a really low number. Illinois is one of the worst teams in the country when it comes to forcing turnovers.

Coming into the game on Tuesday night, the Illini were forcing opponents to 9.2 turnovers per game. This was bad enough to rank No. 349 out of 362 teams in DI basketball.

If Illinois averaged the 11 turnovers we forced against Michigan this season, we would rank No. 264 in the country. Even after the game, there wasn’t much movement for the Illini. We now average 9.3 forced turnovers per game, which still ranks No. 349 in the country.

How do we get more turnovers? Well, I am not sure we can. The quick hands by the Illini players are what force the most turnovers. But our guards aren’t great defensively when it comes to actually stealing the ball. Illinois doesn’t do a great job getting into passing lanes either. If we somehow fix those things, then we could force more turnovers. Just imagine how good we would be if we had a few more possessions per game.

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