CHAMPAIGN -- Jake Davis doesn't hesitate when he gets the ball on the perimeter with space enough to shoot.
He simply pulls the trigger. If he's got a clean look for a three-pointer, the shot is going up, and that hasn't changed even as the Illinois sophomore forward has struggled from three-point range.
Davis entered Sunday's game against Northwestern having made 4 of 16 three-pointers after his Big Ten breakthrough to start the month at Oregon. What he did against the Wildcats was reminiscent of that early January game in Eugene, Ore.
Davis shot 3 of 6 from three-point range and came up just a single point shy of matching his season high with 11 points in Illinois' 83-74 win against Northwestern.
"He's the consummate role player right now that understands what we do," Illinois coach Brad Underwood said of Davis. "IQ wise he's up there. Man, he has got great feel, great instincts. Throughout his life he's always been a great shooter. There's not any time he shoots it that I don't think it's going in, but he has a great knack for finding ways to get open off that. It's not just the set part of an offensive play. He understands the game and creates great angles and opportunities."
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Illinois hasn't been outrebounded often this season. Thursday's game against Maryland marked just the third time it's happened, and like the previous two -- also home games against Tennessee and Southern California -- the Illini lost.
That got corrected Sunday against Northwestern. Illinois outrebounded the Wildcats 50-27 and had a clear advantage on the offensive glass with 21 offensive rebounds to Northwestern's nine.
"What coach says works," said Illinois forward Morez Johnson Jr., who had nine rebounds. "Win the rebounding battle, and you'll win the game. We've got to make sure we keep doing what coach says -- rebound hard every game -- and hopefully the outcome will turn into a win."
Every Illinois player who got on the court had at least three rebounds in Sunday's win. Freshman guard Kasparas Jakucionis led the way with 10 for his third double-double of the season (and second with points and rebounds). All without leading rebounder Tomislav Ivisic, who was sidelined for the second straight game with mononucleosis.
"I'm just trying to play my game," Jakucionis said. "Every game, I'm trying to do what the team needs. (Sunday) I got some good looks on rebounds. I tried to go on the offensive glass, too."
The sheer number of offensive rebounds was a clear difference between Sunday's game and Illinois' first against Northwestern in early December. That game saw the Illini manage just seven offensive rebounds.
"They heard it all week that we got 12 percent of our misses back," Underwood said. "That was our season-low. ... It's a tribute to our guys. They heard 12 percent a lot over the last few days."
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Ivisic watched Sunday's game from the Illinois bench. The same spot he had for Thursday's game against Maryland. The same spot the sophomore center might have for a while.
There's still no set timetable for his return.
"I wish there was so we could plan," Underwood said. "With mono, I've known cases that have gone from 2-3 weeks to two months. I don't know. He's evaluated every few days, and as he's feeling better, he then is allowed to do small amounts of whatever they've got him doing -- riding a bike or conditioning."
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Illinois football coach Bret Bielema met with the media ahead of Sunday's game at State Farm Center to give an update on a busy offseason that started before the Citrus Bowl win against South Carolina and continued into the new year. And talk a little basketball -- even if it isn't his forte.
"I don't give Brad any advice," Bielema said. "I gladly take any he gives me. I don't understand basketball. I was a wrestler. I wasn't a basketball player. I loved (former Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan). We got along great. You may not want to hear that. They invited me to Chicago for the Big Ten basketball tournament. I was around the basketball team and went over to a shootaround. It was 3-4 hours before the game, and these guys were loose as a goose and having fun. I was like, 'Holy (cow).' I couldn't do that. It's a totally different temperament."
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Basketball came up with Bielema as part of a question looking for his insight on what Underwood does now almost every season -- flip an entire roster. It's not a scenario Bielema has to face given the sheer number of players on a football roster compared to the 13 scholarships available to Underwood.
But Bielema does enjoy his time at State Farm Center and the benefits of a basketball program that's already gone through the rebuilding process and come out the other end regularly in the top tier of the Big Ten.
"I love watching Illinois basketball," Bielema said. "Brad has been instrumental. Kaden Feagin committed, really, because of Kofi (Cockburn), to be honest. I think that's what pushed him over. A lot of what we did was there, but Kofi had a couple words with him that literally changed the direction of his recruiting that was really awesome.
"(Women's basketball coach Shauna Green) is my next-door neighbor. I was at the women's basketball game a week ago. My daughters loved it. I loved it."
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Carey Booth got a somewhat surprising DNP against Northwestern after playing more minutes against Maryland than he had in several of his previous games combined. The main difference Sunday was Johnson avoiding foul trouble, and that kept Booth in his warmups in the second half.
"Carey's a really good shooter that hasn't, maybe, had the opportunities to really get going," Underwood said. "The opportunities are going to be there for him, and he'll knock those down. We've got to have more than one rebound than he had (against Maryland). That's where he's got to continue to really help us and do it on both ends. We've seen in it spurts from him, and we've got to continue to see that every day and in games."
Scott Richey