5 big observations from the Illinois basketball win over Wisconsin
It was for all of the marbles in the Big Ten, and the Illinois basketball team was able to come away with a huge victory over the Wisconsin Badgers.
It wasn't an easy task, but the Illinois basketball team was able to beat Wisconsin for the Big Ten Tournament crown on Sunday.
The Illini were in a fight for the championship of the conference tournament. Wisconsin had a double-digit lead in the second half, but Illinois' firepower was too much. A 19-4 run gave the Illini the lead, and we never looked back. Illinois ended up forging ahead and beating Wisconsin, 93-87.
Here are five big observations from the Illinois basketball win over Wisconsin
1. The Illinois defense played well again
I know, I know, this might sound like I have been hanging out with Willie Nelson a little too much. Illinois playing good defense? The score says otherwise most people will say.
Sure, Illinois gave up 87 points against Wisconsin. The Badgers were able to put the ball in the hoop, but they didn’t do it at a terribly high rate. In fact, this is something Illinois has been good at the past couple of weeks.
While the Badgers did put up an 87-spot against the Illini, they only shot 46.9% from the field and 35% from three-point range. This has been in line with what Illinois has given up in the past four games as well.
The Cornhuskers shot 46.4% from the field and 29.6% from three-point range. Ohio State shot 45.5% from the field and 26.7% from three-point range. Iowa was just 35.4% from the field and 33.3% from three-point range.
All four of those games are positive on the defensive end of the court. Do I wish we would give up fewer points? Sure, giving up over 80 points means a loss for most teams. But Illinois isn’t most teams.
Illinois averages 72.8 possessions per game, which ranks No. 71 in the nation. Naturally, with more possessions comes the opponent having more opportunities to score. Illini opponents haven’t been shooting particularly well, but they have numerous opportunities to score, so they will put up a good number of points in each game.
If Illinois wanted to slow the game down, the defensive numbers would improve. The offensive numbers would decline, though. We are best when we are aggressive and running in the open court. Let’s continue to push the ball.