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Illinois Basketball: 5 observations from the Illini loss to Purdue

By Rees Woodcock

CHAMPAIGN, IL - FEBRUARY 23: Illinois Fighting Illini Head Coach Brad Underwood pumps up his players during the Big Ten Conference college basketball game between the Penn State Nittany Lions and the Illinois Fighting Illini on February 23, 2019, at the State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
CHAMPAIGN, IL - FEBRUARY 23: Illinois Fighting Illini Head Coach Brad Underwood pumps up his players during the Big Ten Conference college basketball game between the Penn State Nittany Lions and the Illinois Fighting Illini on February 23, 2019, at the State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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SPRINGFIELD, MA – JANUARY 20: Christ the King Royals center Kofi Cockburn (21) during the first half of the high school basketball game between the Oak Hill Academy Warriors and IMG Academy Ascenders on January 20, 2019 at Blake Arena in Springfield, MA (Photo by John Jones/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

5. I can’t wait until Kofi Cockburn comes to town

The elephant in the room on Wednesday night against Purdue was the big man matchup. Brad Underwood plays Giorgi Bezhanishvili as our big man. He is only 6-foot-9.

Throughout the night, Giorgi would get into foul trouble. He finished the game playing only 22 minutes. That means Illinois had to go to their backup big man. Instead of going to Samba Kane, a 7-footer, Underwood went with Kipper Nichols, a 6-foot-6 forward. That didn’t turn out well.

Purdue’s big man, Matt Haarms, finished the night with 21 points, 10 rebounds and 5 blocks on 8-of-8 shooting from the field. He was dominant against the Illini because, for a lot of the night, he was going up against Nichols. Haarms checks in at 7-foot-3 compared to Nichols height of 6-foot-6.

I am not sure why Underwood didn’t go with Kane more. His decisions on playing time still confuse me, but this also makes me want Kofi Cockburn to get into to town quicker. I want him to be suiting up for the Illini right now.

Next. 5 observations from the Illini loss to Penn State. dark

Cockburn is the 6-foot-10, 280-pound big man who is committed to play for the Illini next season. He is going to be our starting No. 5 and Giorgi can move over to the No. 4 spot. This will give us some size. Haarms won’t be able to do what he did to us on Wednesday night next season. I can’t wait for Kofi to play for the Illini so we can stop being run over in the paint.

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