Illinois basketball wins 89 percent of the time when they…

The Illinois basketball team faced a “gut-check” moment after a 43-point loss at Madison Square Garden to the Duke Blue Devils. That was the third straight loss for the Illini and that loss to Duke was the worst deficit in program history. Things looked bleak for the Illini and many were worried about the utter free-fall that the team was in heading into March Madness. In fact, some even questioned whether they would safely make the big dance. However, Illinois basketball made some key adjustments on both sides of the ball and beat the Iowa Hawkeyes at home to regain confidence. They backed that up with another strong performance in Ann Arbor, taking down the 15th-ranked Michigan Wolverines 93-73.

Three main statistics stuck out from the win. First, the Illini dominated the glass with 43 rebounds, including 19 offensive rebounds. They also only had nine turnovers versus Michigan, which was a nice build-off of a five-turnover game versus Iowa. The best stat that the Illini achieved, however, was their three-point field goal percentage.

The Illini are 16-2 when they make more than 27% from three.

Per Sports Illustrated and Field of 68 College basketball analyst, Kevin Sweeney, Illinois basketball has won 16 of 18 games when they are shoot over 27 percent from the field. 27 percent is not that difficult to achieve. In the game vs Iowa, the Illini shot 31 percent from the three and still won by 20 points. This just goes to show, when the Illini are even somewhat making shots they are extremely dangerous to beat. As postseason play comes, the Illini must make a concerted effort to continue to play inside out. With Will Riley in the starting lineup, they have done a fantastic job of creating rim pressure which opens up easier three-point attempts.

On top of that, the Illini have done an outstanding job crashing the glass despite the loss of Morez Johnson Jr. Whenever a three point shot goes up, all perimeter players are crashing the glass which deflates the opponents morale and creates additional shot opportunities. That is the recipe for success for Illinois.

“Illinois is 16-2 this season when they shoot above 27% from three. They don’t even need to be an elite shooting team. The floor for them is ‘Don’t suck!’ and they definitely didn’t against Michigan” – @CBB_Central

WATCH:https://t.co/sVGRKI0Lgd pic.twitter.com/LXycvhPltq

— The Field of 68 (@TheFieldOf68) March 3, 2025

Illinois aggressively crashed the offensive glass with 4 players on *every shot,* rebounding 49% of its misses.

It wasn’t usually Illinois’ size — but rather their speed — that allowed them to get around Michigan’s guards & wings and totally dominate the boards pic.twitter.com/Q6ZbDTsAmz

— Eric Shapiro (@eric_shap) March 3, 2025

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