Illinois didn’t start the game off great, shooting 3-of-28 from three-point range against the Spartans. The offense had a hard time trying to get into the flow of the game. The struggles may be because Brad Underwood is trying to start Giorgi Bezhanishvili at the power forward spot.
Giorgi starting is a problem for Illinois because teams don’t respect his three-point shot. He can’t shoot the three-ball, and he can’t get his shot inside because Kofi Cockburn is in the paint. He is shooting 40-percent from three-point range, which isn’t bad, but he isn’t a stretch-four, so he is only taking 1.