Illinois Basketball: 4 observations from the Illini win over Duke

The Illinois basketball team defeated the No. 10 Duke Blue Devils, handing them their first-ever home loss in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

The Illinois Fighting Illini came away with a roadkill Tuesday night, defeating No. 10 Duke in a game where the Illini led from start to finish.  Illinois handed Duke their fourth home loss since the year 2000.

This would also be Coach K’s largest non-conference home loss in his 41 seasons of being Duke’s head coach.

Here are four observations from the huge Illinois victory.

1. The Illini played stellar defense

Duke struggled to get any sort of rhythm going offensively throughout the entirety of the game.  This is because Illinois was playing lockdown defense all night long.

The Illini were able to hold the Blue Devils to a very poor shooting night, as they only converted on 40-percent of their total shot attempts, shooting 27-of-67 on the night.  This includes an abysmal 22.7-percent (5-of-22) from beyond the arc.

Illinois’ defense won the rebounding battle, hauling in 33 defensive boards compared to Duke’s 21 rebounds.  Illini guard Ayo Dosunmu had a game-high 12 rebounds on the night.  The Illini defense additionally tallied seven steals and five blocks in the victory.  Guards Adam Miller and Da’Monte Williams both contributed to this feat with two steals each.

Something that does not show up on the stat sheet was the vital presence in the paint from Illini big men Kofi Cockburn and Giorgi Bezhanishvili.

Though Cockburn may not have had every call go his way, the reigning Big Ten Freshman of the Year was almost always there to disrupt nearly every Duke shot attempt in the paint when on the floor.  Cockburn would tie for a game-high two blocks.

Bezhanishvili also made his presence known on the defensive end, as head coach Brad Underwood even had high praise for Bezhanishvili’s stellar defense post-game.

"“He’s playing with tremendous confidence. I love him defensively right now,” Underwood told media."