It is crunch time for No. 11 Illinois basketball as it looks to secure a two-seed in the NCAA tournament. At the same time, Tomislav Ivisic is going through a recent shooting slump.
On Tuesday, Ivisic only scored two points and was 1-for-6 from the field in Illinois' 80-54 win over Oregon. Before that, Ivisic came away with 7 points and shot 3-for-10 from the field in their Feb.27 loss to No.2 Michigan, 84-70.
The junior center is averaging 10.3 points per game.
However, head coach Brad Underwood has a plan in mind to help Ivisic get back on track, per Jeremy Werner of The Illini Inquirer.
Essentially, Underwood wants Ivisic to shoot the ball every time he gets it. The Illini are 23-7 overall and 14-5 in the Big Ten Conference. They will close out the regular season on Sunday against Maryland on the road.
Recently, Underwood has gone to bat for Ivisic when he was criticized for his performance.
Ivisic hails from Bosnia and Herzegovina. He started playing for Illinois during the 2024-25 season after the NCAA granted him eligibility following professional stints in Croatia and Montenegro.
Since arriving in Illinois, he has made quite a name for himself as a versatile big man who can score from beyond the arc as well as in the paint.
Last year, Ivisic led the team in rebounding with 7.7 per game. He also scored in double figures 21 times. Furthermore, he shot 35.7% from the 3-point line.
So far this year, Ivisic has scored in double figures 15 times. Twice scoring 21 points against Jackson State on Nov. 3 and Northwestern on Jan. 14.
