Illinois Basketball: 4 observations from the Illini loss to Baylor

2. Giorgi was the most impressive player on the court

I knew I was going to type this article before the Illinois game even started on Wednesday night, but I didn’t know that I would type a slide that stated Giorgi Bezhanishvili was the most impressive player for the Illini.

Giorgi was all over the court against Baylor. He managed to play solid defense to go along with his newfound touch around the hoop on the offensive end of the court. Giorgi’s hustle was sensational as well. There were zero complaints I had with the kid.

By the end of the night, Giorgi had 15 points, 4 rebounds, 2 blocks, 1 steal and 1 assist. He played 25 minutes and went 7-of-10 from the field and was even 1-of-1 from three-point range. All of these numbers were put up fairly efficiently as Giorgi only had one turnover on the night.

Obviously, I overreacted a little bit on Wednesday night when I said this was the best game in Giorgi’s career. He had a great freshman season. But it is his best game since that 2018-19 campaign. It had been a long time since Giorgi has impressed me on the basketball court.

Giorgi managed to put up those sensational numbers in a crucial spot as well. Kofi Cockburn went out early and often due to foul trouble. Illinois doesn’t have much in the way of a backup No. 5. So, Giorgi filled in for Kofi and did some great work.

Is having Giorgi at the No. 5 for the majority of the game sustainable? The answer is, no. But, for one night, Giorgi was sensational and the best player on the Illinois basketball team.