Illinois Basketball: 3 observations from the Illini win over Purdue

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CHAMPAIGN, IL – JANUARY 05: Illinois center Kofi Cockburn (21) reacts during a college basketball game between the Purdue Boilermakers and Illinois Fighting Illini on January 5, 2020 at the State Farm Center in Champaign, Ill (Photo by James Black/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

The Illinois basketball team played one of their most complete games that I have seen on Sunday night against Purdue.

Illinois started the game hot and didn’t let up. We were up 11-0 before Purdue could score their first point almost seven minutes into the game. That lead remained solid for pretty much the entire first half. Illinois was up by nine points with 10 minutes remaining. It was a 10-point lead with just five minutes to go until halftime.

Heading into the halftime locker room, the Illini were able to get the lead up to 13 points. It was a dominating first half that featured Illinois coming alive and their bench playing great basketball. The story of the first half was great defense by Illinois and the continued emergence of superstar guard, Alan Griffin.

Purdue started to make a slight run at the beginning of the second half, but Illinois was just too much. We were able to snag our first 20-point lead with 6:23 to go in the game at 54-34. That lead would continue to grow the rest of the game. The final horn blew, and Illinois found themselves with a win 63-37.

Here are three observations from the Illini win over Purdue.

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