Illinois Basketball: 3 observations from the Illini win over Michigan (part 2)

1. Ayo carried this team

When I say Ayo Dosunmu carried the team, that kind of sounds bad. It makes it sound like the rest of the team is bad and Ayo has to drag them to victory.

That isn’t the case at all. But, in the game against Michigan, Ayo had to step up because some of the other starters had an off game.

Ayo finished the day with 27 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists. He was 11-of-18 from the field and 2-of-3 from three-point range. He also hit all three of his free throws. The 27 points was his career-high, and Illinois needed every single one of those baskets that he made on Saturday.

I think it was clearly early on in the game that Kofi Cockburn was going to have a bad day. He wasn’t able to make shots. His touch was a little off. And, on top of him not playing well, he had some bad calls go against him. This took Kofi out of the game.

Giorgi Bezhanishvilli stepped in for Kofi at the No. 5 spot, but he was terribly undersized. Michigan took advantage of this fact. Giorgi struggled the entire night against the Wolverines’ big men. That is why he finished with 4 points, 5 rebounds and 3 fouls.

Honestly, I think missing Alan Griffin hurt in this game too. Not having him available to substitute into the game meant Da’Monte Williams saw 31 minutes. Sadly, Williams failed to score again.

Overall, Ayo had to carry this Illinois team on Saturday. We had good players who had a bad game. So, like a true leader, Ayo put the team on his back.