Illinois is doing something never done before
An X's and O's breakdown of the Illini.
The pick-and-pop has long been a topic of conversation in this newsletter. I wrote about it in detail back in 2023, and the key takeaway was that pick-and-pop three-point attempts are much rarer than you might think. Here’s what I wrote:
However, I think the most surprising statistic about pick-and-pops is how little they are actually used in the grand scheme of things.
Overall, the average pick-and-pop threes made per game (per team) is just 0.28 makes.
That’s still mostly true — but this season, one team is shattering the pick-and-pop record books… and they happen to be in the Final Four.
Here are the 10 teams attempting the most pick-and-pop threes per game this season.
Pick-and-pop threes attempted per game in 2025-26 (via Synergy Sports)
Illinois… 5.1
Loyola MD… 3.6
UC San Diego… 3.0
New Mexico… 2.7
Northern Colorado… 2.6
St. Thomas… 2.6
Texas Tech… 2.6
Colgate… 2.5
Wisconsin… 2.3
Santa Clara… 2.3
No one is particularly close to the Illini — and that remains true even when we look at previous seasons tracked by Synergy. Before this year, the highest mark belonged to UC San Diego in 2021, when they attempted 4.5 per game (in a 17-game season).
Ball screen usage — and three-point volume in general — was lower in the years before Synergy tracked this data. So it’s safe to say Illinois is likely the only team in men’s Division I history to attempt 5+ pick-and-pop threes per game.
So how does Brad Underwood’s squad do it?
They rely on two primary formations that make defending the pick-and-pop extremely difficult:
Empty side ball screens with the opposite dunker spot filled
“3 across” middle ball screens
Let’s take a look at both.
Empty Side Ball Screens
Like many teams, the Illini frequently empty a side and set a side ball screen. But instead of placing all three weak-side players on the perimeter, they typically put one in the weak-side dunker spot.
Here’s what that spacing looks like:
Because the left wing and corner are empty, there’s plenty of room for Tomislav Ivisic to pop into open space for a potential three. Ivisic leads the team in pick-and-pop threes.
Here’s a video example from early in the game against VCU. This time, it’s David Mirkovic setting the screen.
Mirkovic pump-fakes instead of shooting, gets his defender off his feet, and creates an advantage.
It’s difficult to hedge or blitz an empty-side ball screen without becoming vulnerable to the pop. Houston took extreme measures by blitzing and then rotating a weak-side defender onto the popper.
Here’s what that rotation looked like.
Chris Cenac is the “rotator” for Houston. He goes from guarding Ivisic all the way in the corner to sprinting out to Mirkovic to take away the pop.
That’s a tough rotation — and one that can easily break down if all five defenders aren’t perfectly aligned.
3 Across Middle Ball Screens
Another concept Underwood uses frequently is “3 across”— a formation I broke down on my YouTube channel over the summer.
In 3 across, the three off-ball players line up along the baseline. Here’s the spacing.
As you can see, there’s an inverted ball screen being set by Kylan Boswell while the three off-ball players get into position.
Typically, in 3-across alignments, the player in the dunker spot will duck-in or seal their defender during the ball screen. But Illinois doesn’t do that — they just stay spaced in the dunker spot.
Because the offense is so flat along the baseline, it creates a ton of room for the screener to pop to either side.
Here’s an example from the Penn game.
With the defense flattened, Penn doesn’t even get a chance to stunt at the pop — it’s a clean, in-rhythm three for Ivisic.
That’s the power of the 3-across alignment.
But now watch how Iowa defends it.
Instead of staying flat in the corner, Tavion Banks steps up to the elbow to potentially stunt at the popper (Mirkovic). That helps take away the pop, but it creates another problem.
Wagler drives into the paint and draws help. Banks needs to drop down to help the helper, but because he started so high, he’s out of position. The result: an easy Illini basket.
— — — — — —
There’s a reason Illinois has been neck-and-neck with Purdue all season for the most efficient offense in the country.
The pick-and-pop isn’t the only reason — but their ability to pop, combined with elite spacing, makes the Illini incredibly difficult to guard. They consistently create space and force mismatches.
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