Couple of things I find interesting about this game:
This game can get really weird, but Illinois has the capacity to blow these guys out. Missouri can't make the plays Simpson/Teske make for Michigan. Keep the three point defense up, take care of the ball, and this should be a comfortable win
- Missouri is shooting it much worse from 3 than they should be. Just like Michigan shouldn't be going from 34% -> 42% in one offseason, Missouri shouldn't be going from 36% -> 27%. They will start making more shots eventually.
- 42.6% of Missouri's field goal attempts are threes - even more than Michigan. But in many ways, Missouri is simply a far less-talented version of Michigan. The defensive game plan should be similar.
- That goes without saying that a large part of the reason Missouri has underperformed is their shooting. When you take so many threes but make so few, well, you look like a John Groce team.
- The ways Illinois can lose this game: (1) Throwing it to the other team too many times, (2) Kofi/Giorgi doing something stupid and getting in foul trouble, (3) Letting Miznoz's shooters get cozy. Pretty much all of these scenarios require an extreme lack of focus from multiple guys.
- Torrence Watson is the guy I'm a bit scared of. He finished last season on a tear, but has been horrible from three this year. A breakout game from him is coming. Don't let it be this one.
- Ayo was terrible in this game last year. I'm sure he knows that and wants to be better. My concern here is that Ayo has a habit of trying to do too much at awkward times, and I hope he doesn't he doesn't come out feeling like he has to "make up" for his performance last year. He doesn't. He just needs to focus and take what is given, like he has the last few games.
This game can get really weird, but Illinois has the capacity to blow these guys out. Missouri can't make the plays Simpson/Teske make for Michigan. Keep the three point defense up, take care of the ball, and this should be a comfortable win
