Brad Underwood’s first teams at Illinois after taking over the program were the gang that couldn’t shoot straight. In the 2017-18 season, Underwood’s first season, the Illini were one of the worst 3-point shooting teams in the Big Ten.

Over the next few recruiting cycles, adding shooters became a priority, and it all came to fruition on Saturday against St. Francis, when Illinois rained down a barrage of shots from long range en route to a 106-48 win.

In that first season, Underwood said he spent most of his time trying to get shots for leading scorer Leron Black and Trent Frazier, who was a freshman.

“We couldn’t shoot,” Underwood said. “There was no space on the floor. My best offense the first two years was just trying to create an opportunity to get Trent or Leron Black a shot.”

So, it was back to the recruiting trail, with an emphasis on adding guys who can fill it up. It’s an ongoing process, but the Illini have made big strides.

Underwood may have hit the jackpot last offseason, when he plucked former Utah guard Alfonso Plummer from the transfer portal.

“Trying to create as much space as possible was the goal in recruiting and will always continue to be,” Underwood said. “There’s no place, in my opinion, in today’s game for guys who can’t shoot.”

The Illini had a great run last year behind All-Americans Kofi Cockburn and Ayo Dosunmu, who now plays for the Chicago Bulls.

This year’s club has a different look. The Illini have made 114 3-point shots, the most in the Big Ten, and are ranked No. 2 in the league in 3-point shooting percentage (.412) behind Purdue. Everything was falling against St. Francis, and the Illini drained a program-record 18 three-pointers.

The shots were spread across eight different shooters – Trent Frazier (2-4), Jacob Grandison (4-6), Alfonso Plummer (5-10), Da’Monte Williams (1-2), Brandin Podziemski (1-4), Luke Goode (2-3), RJ Melendez (1-1) and Coleman Hawkins (2-3) – and it continued an incredibly hot streak that Illinois is currently on.

After shooting just 28 percent from three-point land in their first four games of the season, the Illini have now connected on 88-of-200 (44 percent) from behind the arc in their last seven games, including 16 against No. 8 Arizona.

“It the way we are designed,” Illini center Kofi Cockburn said after the game. “We’re designed with really, really elite shooters. Jake, Trent, Plummer – you name it – Da’Monte… It’s just great seeing those guys elevate each other, playing unselfishly and just having fun.”

Cockburn doesn’t contribute to the three-point shooting directly, but the All-American junior does contribute to it in an indirect fashion.

The Illini’s opponents are forced to double-team the 7-foot, 285-pounder in the paint or he gets easy looks and slam dunks. But now that opponents are double Cockburn, he’s started to kick out to open shooters on the perimeter who are knocking down the shots.

“It’s fun when you work a lot to build that confidence,” Plummer said. “You go hours and hours in the gym trying to get better as a shooter. It always feels good to see the ball go in.”

This season, Illinois is making 39% on their three-point attempts, which is actually only two percent better than what last season’s team shot it. The difference is that last season, only 30 percent of the Illini’s field goal attempts came from three-point land.

This year, Illinois is averaging 10.4 made 3-pointers per game. The only high major team to make more threes a game is Villanova (10.6).

The best shooter on the team – Alfonso Plummer – has made 39 trey balls in the Illini’s 11 games, and that includes a slow start to the season in which he made just five in the first four games. But since he exploded for seven threes against Kansas State on Nov. 23, he’s shooting 47.9% from three-point land on 10.1 attempts per game.

Plummer is on pace to break the Illini’s single-season record of 283 attempted by Luther Head back in the historic 2004-05 national runner-up season. Head made 116 of his 283 attempts that season, Plummer is on pace to break that record too.

““He’s incredible, man,” Cockburn said about Plummer. He just has so much confidence. He works on his shot so much. I watch him and when he puts the ball up, I think it’s going in. I think he’s the best shooter in the country, hands down.”

Cockburn said Plummer puts the necessary work in, staying after practice to get shots up, not leaving until he makes at last 50 three-pointers.

With Plummer drawing he defenses attention and Cockburn getting double-teamed in the post. It’s created opportunities for others. Grandison is getting open looks, and he’s made 23-46 of his 3-point shots.

Frazier is looking more like the shooter he was in 2018-19, when he made over 40 percent of his 3’s. Over his last three games, Frazier has made 11-20 from deep.

Underwood said in the summer that he wanted to play more like the Utah Jazz, who made an NBA record 17 treys a game in 2020-21. Now his team is and they’re looking to ride that to another successful season, this time capping it off with a deep run in March.

“Have you seen tonight’s shot chart?” Underwood asked reporters after the St. Francis game. “It’s all in the paint or threes. That’s an NBA coach’s dream because you don’t take any hard twos. That’s what this team is capable of. There’s not a bad shooter on our team.”