Illinois Basketball: Illini MVP for the win against Northwestern

Illinois basketball beat Northwestern Saturday night, 75-71, and they are off to their best start in the Brad Underwood era.

Illinois played a good game against Northwestern. This was just an okay game for the Illini on defense as they struggled early in the game but locked down late against the Wildcats. The Illini did a good job of breaking down Northwestern’s zone defense.  There were multiple players who had a good game today, but there is only one MVP who emerged from this victory.

The MVP of the game has to go to Trent Frazier as he had his best game of the season.

Frazier had 16 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists while shooting 46-percent from the field and 57-percent from three-point range. He did a good job on defense as he forced two offensive fouls against Northwestern.

The offensive side of the court was good for Frazier as well. He probably had his best and most consistent offensive game of the season. Frazier also reached 1,000 points on Saturday, which is a huge accomplishment.

The other candidate for the MVP of the game was Ayo Dosunmu as he had 15 points and 6 assists. Frazier got it because he was there for the Illini when Ayo and Kofi were struggling to get going. Hopefully, this game will get Frazier going as he has struggled a bit this season.

This was an ugly win for Illinois but a win is a win. The Illini move to 13-5 overall and 5-2 in Big Ten play. Illinois is now on a four-game winning streak. We will face off against Purdue Tuesday in hopes of extending our winning ways.