Illinois Basketball: Illini MVP in the win over Minnesota

The Illinois basketball team opened up conference play with an impressive win over the Minnesota Golden Gophers, 92-65.

Illinois was impressive against the Gophers on Tuesday night. Early on in the first half, the Illini struggled, though. But they got things going, took the lead and never looked back. This was a good win as Illinois played well on both sides of the court. One player, in particular, had a great game and earned the MVP.

The MVP of this game is going to Kofi Cockburn, who had a great bounce back game.

Kofi had a career-high 33 points, 13 rebounds, and 2 blocks against Minnesota. He shot very well from the field going 12-of-15 on the night. He also had a great game from the free-throw line as he hit 9-of-15 from the charity stripe.

The talent of Kofi was on full display against the Gophers. He did a few drop step shots when in the post, which was a good sign. He ran the floor on the fastbreak pretty well. It was also good to see Kofi knock down some free throws. He was patient after getting offensive rebounds, which was also good to see.

This was a good win for the Illinois basketball program. The Illini and Kofi were able to show that they could bounce back after a tough loss. Illinois now improves to 5-2 on the season and 1-0 in Big Ten play. They will get a chance to improve that record on Sunday as they will face off against the No. 19 ranked Rutgers Scarlet Knights.