Illinois Basketball: Illini report card against the Duke Blue Devils

The Illinois basketball team handily beat Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium, 83-68, marking a huge resume-boosting win early in the season.

Illinois had one of its biggest games in recent memory on Tuesday night, going up against one of the best college basketball programs in Duke. The Illini were more than ready for the challenge and handily beat a good Duke team, 83-68.

The 15-point loss for the Blue Devils matches its largest home non-conference defeat with Mike Krzyzewski as head coach.

This game marked a huge bounce-back victory for the Illinois basketball program after falling to Baylor last week. The Illini now sits at 4-1 on the season after the impressive victory. Let’s give some grades out for the game.

The Offense: A

The Illini offense showed their firepower in this one. Illinois shot 58-percent from the field, which is the program’s best-ever mark in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge. It also marks the No. 9 best shooting percentage by any team in the history of the challenge.

Illinois readily handled whatever Duke threw at them and led the game for an incredible 39 minutes and 12 seconds.

At one point, the Illini had a lead of 19, showing their ability to dominate good teams. The one negative that Illinois really needs to work on is the turnovers, finishing with 18 turnovers by the end of the game.

The Defense: A+

Illinois’ defense continues to look stout. The Illini out-rebounded Duke 33-21 on the defensive side of the court. Duke only had 29 points at halftime, and the Blue Devils failed to get into any sort of a rhythm. Illini defenders forced Duke to take tough shots as well.

With the likes of veterans Da’Monte Williams and Trent Frazier, this more-experienced Illini defense took advantage of an inexperienced Duke team. The Blue Devils did not make a three-pointer until the second half and finished the game shooting just 5-of-22 from beyond the arc.

Ayo Dosunmu: A

The preseason All-American continues to shine. Dosunmu finished the game with a double-double, the third of his career and second of the season. He had 18 points and 12 rebounds, both of which led the team in those respective categories. Dosunmu also took advantage of getting fouled, going 6-of-6 from the free throw line.

Da’Monte Williams: A-

I am absolutely loving what Williams has been able to bring to the table this season. He has arguably been the most consistent Illinois basketball player not named Ayo Dosunmu.

Williams played solid defense and continues to show off his three-point range going 2-of-2 from distance. Williams ended the night with 10 points and 3 rebounds.

Giorgi Bezhanishvili: A-

Giorgi has really taken the new role off the bench in stride this year, after not really finding any consistent success last season. Finishing with 11 points and 5 rebounds, Giorgi continues to instill confidence in Brad Underwood that he is more than a viable backup for Kofi Cockburn when the big man is in foul trouble.

I love the aggressiveness in the paint that Giorgi has shown. However, there have been times when, on defense, he does not guard the paint well when opponents drive, leading to easy buckets.

Andre Curbelo: B+

Curbelo has been one of the most electric players off the bench. The true freshman has a sky-high ceiling in an Illinois basketball uniform. He played 21 minutes and put up 12 points in his time on the floor. His footwork and ability to drive through the lane are some of the best around for a player as young as him.

The one part of Curbelo’s game that needs cleaning up is his turnovers. He had five turnovers in the 21 minutes. As I’ve mentioned before, this is just a small part of Curbelo’s game that needs to be polished and can be expected from a young, energetic player. He just needs to slow down at times, but I love the aggressiveness.

Adam Miller: B

Miller started off the game hot, drilling a couple of threes to put the Illini ahead early. However, the freshman faded after the first half, finishing with nine points, going 3-of-3 from three-point range. Miller also displayed solid defense, finishing with two steals as well.

Kofi Cockburn: B

Kofi played 27 minutes compared to Giorgi’s 22 in this one. Once again, I was hoping to see Kofi show more dominance against the Duke freshman, Mark Williams. Despite his solid defensive play, Kofi finished with 13 points and 8 rebounds.

Kofi has struggled from the free throw line this season and that trend continued in this game, going just 5-of-10 from the charity stripe. His inconsistencies have been frustrating thus far. I’m still hoping that there are some early season kinks that need to be worked out, but I am still waiting on the dominant performance that I’ve been expecting.

Trent Frazier: B

Frazier continues to play a solid role alongside guards Ayo Dosunmu and Adam Miller. Frazier’s defense has also been notably good, forcing the younger Duke team to take contested shots throughout this one. His stat line of 10 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists was solid. However, the five turnovers from Frazier hurt his grade. I expect the senior to be just fine moving forward.