Illinois came into Saturday’s game ranking poorly in Big Ten statistics in field goal percentage (.435, 10th) three-point percentage (.350, eighth), scoring defense (66.1, seventh), free throw percentage (.658, eighth), rebounding defense (36.5, ninth), blocks (3.27, ninth) and assists (14.07, 10th).
But the Illini’s conference record now is 3-0. How are they doing it?
“Illinois showed me a lot,” Iowa coach Tom Davis said Thursday night after the Illini upset his No. 11 Hawkeyes 76-64 in Iowa City. “They had some great performances off the bench. Their quickness was a lot better than we expected. And there’s no question their experience (five seniors) was a key. They play well together.”
How are they doing it? Defense.
The only categories the Illini ranked high in are scoring (fourth, 73.7), turnover margin (second, plus 3.67) and steals (fourth, 8.4).
The first 10 minutes Saturday night against Northwestern were typical of what the Illini have been doing all season. They forced seven turnovers–two of them shot-clock violations by the Cats.
Illinois senior guard Kevin Turner came in third in the league in scoring, averaging 18.3 points a game. Northwestern center Evan Eschmeyer led with 24.3.
Percentages: NU coach Kevin O’Neill has a lot of rules for his team, but one of them might be more important than the others: He’ll let you know if you’re a scorer.
Going into Saturday’s game, the Wildcats had three players who had O’Neill’s blessing to shoot the ball. Eschmeyer, Sean Wink (12.5 points a game) and Julian Bonner (11.7) were accounting for 48.5 points of NU’s 67.7 average.
That’s why Northwestern was shooting 53.8 percent for the season, 61.2 percent in the Big Ten.
“We shoot a very high percentage,” O’Neill said. “We don’t let people shoot who can’t shoot. To be honest with you, we take great shots.”
Eschmeyer rarely has taken what might be called a jump shot. His game centers on layins, dunks and short jump hooks. There’s a reason for that: He doesn’t have much of a jump shot. NU coaches have been working with him to develop one. They already have altered his form on free throws. What had been an awkward-looking, catapult-like delivery is now a smoother push shot.
Next up for Eschmeyer: a jump shot.
“It’s our job by next year to have him in position where he can make the 15-footer,” O’Neill said. “It’s taken us all year to make his free throw look decent. And it should take some time with that because he’s got some bad habits with that shot.”
Sergio watch: Illinois senior guard Matt Heldman said freshman Sergio McClain’s season-high 14-point effort in Thursday night’s upset of Iowa wasn’t long overdue as far as his teammates are concerned.
“He’s still learning the system,” Heldman said. “His job has been to get the ball to our shooters, and he’s just accepting his role.”
McClain averaged just 3.4 points and 2.9 rebounds in the Illini’s first 14 games.
