Why Illinois' Defensive Issues Will Be Exposed by Dan Hurley and UConn

Illinois’ defense in the past few games could be described in a variety of ways – none of them good. Struggling? Porous? Wildly inconsistent? How about just flat-out bad? The Illini, who certainly have the athletes and length to be dominant at that end, have been playing below the bar they set in their first couple of outings.

Even in that Texas Tech game, which saw the Red Raiders connect on 11 straight field goals in the second half and forward JT Toppin score 35 points, Illinois’ defense looked good. Sure, Texas Tech scored, but life was difficult. Toppin’s buckets were well-contested, and his efficiency was simply absurd.

More power to him. The Illini did their job (for the most part), and Toppin was a special player making special plays on that night.

The Illini could have made it tougher for Toppin to make his initial catch, or perhaps could’ve sent two once he had the ball in the post. But with the game plan they had, they accomplished all of their tasks – and, most importantly, won the game.

And there weren’t any breakdowns. The communication was sound, the rotations were crisp, the Illini closed out hard – they did everything you would want a defensive unit to do.

In the time since, though? That effort, communication and all-around connection is nowhere to be found. It’s all the intangibles. Again, the pieces are there. We’ve seen the ceiling, but Illinois’ defense is playing at ground level.

Why UConn is set to pick Illinois' defense apart

Now, for the bad news: UConn is on deck. And the Huskies’ head man – Dan Hurley – has certainly been taking notes. Surely, he’s licking his chops. And Illinois’ Brad Underwood knows it.

“I mean, we’re getting ready to face one of the best teams in the country,” said Underwood on Monday night in the aftermath of Illinois’ 87-73 win over UT Rio Grande Valley. “You know [Hurley] is going to run great offense, and they’re completely different than this team. But it’s more the fundamental things. The one thing I’m not going to stand for is not playing hard enough.”

If the Illini allow a mid-major team – all due respect to the Vaqueros – to shoot 42.3 percent from long range and rack up 73 points on them, imagine what the Huskies might be capable of. As Underwood himself said, UConn is “completely different” from UTRGV. To translate, the Huskies are better than the Vaqueros, in practically every quantifiable aspect.

It’s not just the talent – which UConn has in spades, between Alex Karaban, Solo Ball and Silas Demary Jr., to name just a few – but it’s the man we keep coming back to: Hurley.

Communication is imperative for the Illini on Friday

Nov 24, 2025; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini guard Mihailo Petrovic (77) yells instructions to teammates during the second half against the UT Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros at State Farm Center. Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-Imagn Images | Ron Johnson-Imagn Images

There is not a team in college basketball that implements as much off-ball movement as Hurley’s squad – and the margin is wide. (We know Illinois doesn’t.) And what does off-ball movement do to a defense? Puts it in rotation. Forces it to communicate – a key problem for the Illini in recent games.

“I don’t know how he’s ever played, and maybe there’s other coaches that do things differently than we do,” Underwood said about big man Zvonimir Ivisic. “But you have to talk. It’s not a game of mind-reading. And you have to communicate. … We have a saying: Quiet teams lose. And you have to communicate. It’s one of the things we’ve already said probably a million times in practice.”

And trust us (or your own eyes, if you’ve watched an Illini game in the last week): Zvonimir Ivisic is not Illinois' only culprit – and the communication woes were on full display against Alabama last Wednesday.

Labaron Philon Jr. was a problem, and Illinois’ inability to work through switches and ball-screens allowed him to get some easy buckets to get himself going, but the Crimson Tide beat up on the Illini through one-on-one isolation ball. Just imagine what a movement-oriented offense loaded with selfless, high-IQ decision-makers – as UConn is – is going to do to an Illinois defense that fails to talk. (Even in transition, the Huskies' offense is poetic.)

ball never hits the floor 🤩 pic.twitter.com/NXU5oaBsGF
— UConn Men's Basketball (@UConnMBB) November 23, 2025

UConn, and the way it runs offense, wears opponents down. Screen after screen, possession after possession, minute after minute, the Huskies just keep working. Their players move, the ball moves and the defense is driven to a frenzy.

Naturally, that makes life on the defensive end difficult. But it also makes those jumpers on the other end come up a touch short, zaps a little bit of burst out of a player’s first step and makes clutch free throws that much tougher.

Hurley’s offensive unit is going to strain Illinois’ defense to a level it has not seen this year – and in the worst possible way. It’s going to take advantage of the Illini’s biggest flaws. That aforementioned size and athleticism means Illinois boasts capable one-on-one defenders, but it’s the team defense that remains a question mark. And against UConn, it will be team defense – and, yep you guessed it, communication – that will be necessary for the Illini to knock off the Huskies in “Storrs South."