Illinois Basketball: 3 keys to beating Chattanooga in Round of 64

CHAMPAIGN, ILLINOIS - NOVEMBER 09: Alfonso Plummer #11 of the Illinois Fighting Illini brings the ball up the court in the game against the Jackson State Tigers at State Farm Center on November 09, 2021 in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images) /

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Illinois Basketball head coach Brad Underwood Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports /

Put an End to Second Half Defensive Woes

Since the start of February, Illinois has had some putrid second halves on the defensive end of the floor. At Purdue, Illinois led 38-36 at halftime, then proceeded to allow 48 points in the second half and got blown out.

In a road win at Michigan State shortly after, Illinois led 34-22 at the half before conceding 52 second-half points and barely hanging on to the win. The Illini then gave up 50 second-half points in a home loss to the Buckeyes, followed by 47 points in the second half at Michigan.

While second halves are bound to have more points scored sometimes due to teams intentionally fouling to extend the game, this is still a concerning trend. Illinois wound up winning all but two of those games, but it cannot expect to do so in the tournament. Maybe those teams just caught fire, or maybe Illinois has a bad tendency of taking their foot off the gas pedal. Perhaps, it comes from a lack of halftime adjustments.

Either way, Brad Underwood and his team need to figure out where their problems on that are coming from. There are too many good defenders on the team to consistently be giving up around 50 points in a half.

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