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Offense had stood out all season for Illinois, only for the defense to step up in March Madness.
Arizona and Michigan have been part of college basketball’s top tier all year with elite play at both ends of the court, and they’ve been even sharper at the offensive end in the NCAA Tournament.
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Now that trio joins UConn for this week’s Final Four in Indianapolis. The Huskies and Illini meet in Saturday’s first semifinal, followed by the Wolverines and Wildcats.
All four teams rank in the overall top 10 of data-driven college basketball rankings for KenPom, Evan Miyakawa and Bart Torvik going into the Final Four. That includes the Wolverines and Wildcats ranking 1-2 for all three currently, as well as posting some of KenPom’s best net-efficiency rankings ever recorded.
Illini’s defense
Illinois (28-8) entered the NCAA tourney ranked second in KenPom’s adjusted offensive efficiency by averaging 131.2 points per 100 possessions while ranking just 28th in defense (99.1). Yet the South Region champion’s defense has allowed .976 points per possession in the NCAA Tournament to lead the remaining four teams.
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“We’ve been very good throughout the season at times,” coach Brad Underwood said before the regional final win against Iowa. “We just haven’t been that consistent.”
Illinois allowed Penn, VCU, Houston and Iowa to score on just 41.2% of their possessions. The Illini also dominated the glass (plus-16.3 per game) to grab the rebounds that completed those defensive stops.
They’ve done it all with the nation’s tallest roster, with seven players from Saturday’s eight-man rotation standing 6-foot-6 or taller. That has included an influx of European talent, including Croatian twins Tomislav (7-1) and Zvonimir Ivisic (7-2), as well as 6-9 forward David Mirkovic from Montenegro. The outlier among that big lineup, 6-2 senior guard Kylan Boswell, is a strong backcourt defender.
UConn (33-5), meanwhile, has scored on 52.2% of its possessions going back to the…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/illinois-defense-net-efficiency-top-192008425.html
Author : AARON BEARD
Publish date : 2026-03-30 19:20:00
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