Hoosiers look to continue impressive run in Champaign
By COLLIN O’CONNOR
ISL Correspondent
Indiana this season has become what some people probably never expected: an elite half-court defensive team and a team that is undefeated on the road, the last remaining team in the Big Ten with that mark.
A lot of that has to do with the emergence of Victor Oladipo as an elite perimeter defender. Despite missing what could have been the dunk of the season in college hoops on Saturday, he still was able to compete compete in a way that shut a very potent Michigan offense down. According to Jay Bilas of ESPN, in 45 possessions, Oladipo allowed just four points from his matchup of the opposing team. That is elite defense.
The second best offense in the country, in points per game, is due in large part to that defense.
Indiana currently leads the Big Ten in fewest points allowed per possession, and the Hoosiers are also currently 10th in the nation in rebounding percentage, which allows them to finish off a defensive possession and lead into another fast break opportunity. Those numbers go a long way toward setting the type of pace they prefer to play. By forcing turnovers to get out in transition, the Hoosiers are able to get out and run to get easy baskets.
Christian Watford, Victor Oladipo and Cody Zeller are each averaging over five rebounds per game and Will Sheehey and Jeremy Hollowell have done a very good job as of late on the defensive end for this Indiana team.
Tonight against Illinois, despite the game being in Champaign, Indiana should be able to continue to exploit this advantage. Illinois is just 10th in the Big Ten, 160 in the country, in rebounding percentage. The Fighting Illini have struggled at teams this year to keep opponents off of the boards, and that should be a big cause for concern.
Illinois is last in the conference in points allowed per possession, and that could lead to a very high scoring game tonight with the amount of possessions generally involved in a game with the Hoosiers.
It will be important for Illinois to try and keep Indiana from running, but that is much easier said than done. Generally, Illinois likes to play an up-tempo game as well, but it will be tough for them to run and score with a team so strong on the offensive end.
It will take a very good shooting performance from this team, which the Fighting Illini are very capable of, to be able to score with Indiana. They will not be able to go for minutes at a time without scoring and compete in this game because Indiana will immediately take advantage of that and go on a run where they string together eight or 10 points before Illinois can blink.
This game will, though, be a chance for Illinois to get back into the picture for an at-large NCAA bid, something that the Fighting Illini have started to lose their grip on after an impressive non-conference slate. A win tonight over the No. 1 team in the country will definitely put them back into the picture, but that victory will be very hard to come by against a Hoosiers team playing its best basketball of the season.
