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Illinois Basketball: 3 observations from the Illini win over Minnesota

By Rees Woodcock

CHAMPAIGN, IL - JANUARY 30: Illinois Fighting Illini forward Giorgi Bezhanishvili (15) flexes after a play during the Big Ten Conference college basketball game between the Minnesota Golden Gophers and the Illinois Fighting Illini on January 30, 2020, at the State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
CHAMPAIGN, IL - JANUARY 30: Illinois Fighting Illini forward Giorgi Bezhanishvili (15) flexes after a play during the Big Ten Conference college basketball game between the Minnesota Golden Gophers and the Illinois Fighting Illini on January 30, 2020, at the State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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CHAMPAIGN, IL – JANUARY 30: Illinois center Kofi Cockburn (21) calling for a pass during a college basketball game between the Minnesota Golden Gophers and Illinois Fighting Illini on January 30, 2020 at the State Farm Center in Champaign, Ill (Photo by James Black/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

The Illinois basketball team had a tough matchup against the Minnesota Golden Gophers on Thursday night.

It was a home game against a struggling Golden Gophers program. I thought we would win this one, but it made me nervous at times. Nothing is given in the Big Ten, everything is earned.

Minnesota was keeping up with Illinois throughout the entire game. By the 10-minute mark in the first half, the game was tied 9-9. The Illini were then able to jump out to a six-point lead, but that ended quickly with a run by the Golden Gophers. With less than four minutes to go in the first half, the game was tied back up 17-17.

At one time, Minnesota took the lead away from the Illini with 2:13 remaining, but Illinois fought back. The Illini hit a couple of shots and a free throw to go into the halftime locker room up 24-20. The second half wouldn’t be much different.

Illinois did come out firing in the second half. We were able to get the lead up to 13 points, but Minnesota wasn’t giving up that easily. The Golden Gophers came fighting back. With 1:49 remaining in the game, Illinois was only up by one point. Thanks to some great defense, the Orange and Blue were able to hold off Minnesota’s late charge, though. We ended up winning the game 59-51.

Here are three observations from the Illini win over Minnesota.

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