Illinois' historically insane shooting

By now you've no doubt heard that Illinois is off to a pretty hot start in Big Ten play in terms of shooting the ball. But until I took a closer look at what constitutes "normal" for major-conference games, I didn't fully realize just how preposterous Bruce Weber's team has been. Seasoned Illini-watchers tell me the always-fretful Weber has actually started wincing visibly each time his players sink yet another three. It's almost as if the coach knows this is too good to last.

The coach is right. Illinois has recorded two of the best shooting performances seen in major-conference play over the past five-plus seasons.

John Gasaway