Illinois Basketball: 3 keys to beating Chattanooga in Round of 64
By Tommy Farmer
On Friday, Illinois Basketball will square off with Chattanooga in its Round of 64 matchup in Pittsburgh. The Illini enters as the Big Ten regular-season co-champions, while Chattanooga won both the Southern Conference regular-season and tournament. Illinois is currently favored in this 4 vs. 13-game by 8 points, according to WynnBET.
Here are three of the biggest keys for Illinois if they are to move on to the next round…
Restore Alfonso Plummer’s Confidence Early
In an Illinois Big Ten Tournament loss to Indiana, Alfonso Plummer struggled mightily shooting the ball. The sharpshooter finished just 2/12 from the floor, including some key missed shots down the stretch. More worrisome, however, was that Plummer passed up multiple shots late that he definitely should have taken. Plummer has not lacked confidence letting it fly all year, and now is certainly not the time to start doubting himself.
For Illinois to reach its potential, it needs a confident Plummer. It would be wise for Brad Underwood to design easy looks for Plummer early to get him going. An easy, early bucket or two could do wonders for him getting back into his groove. He has only had one recent bad game, so this isn’t that concerning. However, when the stakes are win-or-go-home, there is no time to waste with getting him back knocking down threes.
So far this season, Plummer has hit at least six threes in six different games. That kind of firepower from one player is a lethal weapon to have in a single-elimination tournament. He has the special ability of being able to basically go out and win a game by himself. Illinois needs to create looks for him early and often to get his shot-making swagger back.