Illinois Basketball: 3 observations from the Illini win over Northwestern

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CHAMPAIGN, IL – JANUARY 18: Illinois Fighting Illini center Kofi Cockburn (21) grabs a rebound during the Big Ten Conference college basketball game between the Northwestern Wildcats and the Illinois Fighting Illini on January 18, 2020, at the State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

1. Staying out of foul trouble was huge

One of the issues Illinois has at times is foul trouble. This is an issue for just about every team, but with the Illini, we don’t have as much depth as a lot of teams.

The main player that worries me when it comes to foul trouble is Kofi Cockburn. He is the centerpiece to this team and without him, the offense and defense both decline dramatically. That is why keeping him on the floor is paramount.

Kofi finished with one foul, which was huge. Behind him, the next option is to either go small with Giorgi Bezhanishvili at the No. 5 spot or go with Jermaine Hamlin. Either of those options would decrease the production of this team.

On top of Kofi staying out of foul trouble, everyone else did as well. We settled in with an eight-man rotation, which is probably for the best at this point. But Brad Underwood wasn’t forced to use anyone he wasn’t comfortable with playing. That is important.

I know this is the Big Ten and Illinois will get into foul trouble down the road. But this was a game that I was impressed with our discipline. If we would have gotten into foul trouble, I would imagine we probably would have lost this game.

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