Illinois basketball: Illini report card against the Ohio State Buckeyes

The Illinois basketball team dropped another Big Ten game, losing to Ohio State 87-81 on Saturday. The Illini have now lost two straight games.

Another frustrating loss for Illinois on Saturday. Ohio State is good, so I tip my cap to them, but Illinois had a legit shot at winning this one. Back-to-back home losses as a favorite are brutal in this extremely tough Big Ten Conference. The Illini started off slowly and looked flat coming out of the gate. They seemingly didn’t have an answer for the Buckeye offense.

The Offense: C+

Despite scoring 81 points, the Illinois offense has just not looked efficient over the last couple of games.

As my colleague Rees pointed out, the Illini have looked bad in the half court. Illinois shot just above 48-percent on the day, not bad by any means, but the sequencing of their offense looks awkward at times.

It seems as if the only answer has been either to give Kofi Cockburn the ball down low while he’s double-teamed or put up three-pointers. We need more guys who can drive to the basket and create more open looks.

The Defense: D

The defense was quite disappointing in this one. Ohio State shot lights out and the Illini defense simply looked flat and did not have an answer.

Ohio State had 22 fast break points and shot above 50-percent from the three-point mark. In the first half alone, the Buckeyes shot above 70-percent from beyond the arc. That is not good for the Orange and Blue.

Illinois led the game for only 26 seconds on Saturday, and the defense was a large part of that.

Ayo Dosunmu: B

Ayo Dosunmu continues to be the leader of this team, but I really wanted to see more consistency from him.

Ayo only had four points in the first half, which really hurts the momentum from the start. He had 22 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds and finished 9-of-10 from the free throw line. He only shoot 38-percent from the field and, at times, taking some forced shots.

Adam Miller: B-

Adam Miller had looked a lot more comfortable over the last several games, and I was impressed with the more well-rounded game.

Not only did Miller have 14 points, but he also had seven rebounds, which was a nice surprise. He has yet to really go off like we know he can, but the more consistent shooting and the seemingly restored confidence should bode well for the freshman moving forward.

Kofi Cockburn: B-

Cockburn did about all that he could on the night in the paint, showing clear frustration at times from, what seemed to be, a lack of support on offense.

Teams have been swarming the big man, making him a focal point of attack. EJ Liddell definitely made Cockburn work on defense, scoring 26 against the Illini. The free throws continue to be a huge problem for Cockburn as well, going 1-of-5 on Saturday from the charity stripe.

Despite these negatives, Cockburn was perfect from the field, going 7-of-7, and he was able to finish with 15 points and 11 rebounds.

Trent Frazier: B-

Playing a team-high 37 minutes but scoring 8 points, Trent Frazier is not the big scorer we used to know.

I’ve mentioned this multiple times, but in games like this when the Illini need someone to step up, it would be nice to see the senior make a couple of big baskets. Frazier did have 4 assists and 2 steals on the night, showcasing his defensive prowess once again.

Da’Monte Williams: D

Da’Monte Williams headed to the bench early against Ohio State, setting a tough tone early on.

The senior captain has had a couple of rough starts to games lately and it particularly hurts when both he and Ayo get off to slow starts. The senior had just 3 points, 2 rebounds, and 1 turnover by the end of the night. Brad Underwood went with Giorgi early on in place of Williams, and he ended up playing just 14 minutes compared to Giorgi who also had 14 minutes.

The Bench: D

In games like this, I, along with many Illinois basketball fans, was missing Andres Feliz off the bench from seasons past.

Feliz seemed to be the guy who could provide a spark and put up 15 points when you needed him. However, the usual go-to off the bench, Andre Curbelo, has been struggling a little of late. He only played 12 minutes and finished with 2 points and 2 turnovers.

As mentioned above, Giorgi took over for Williams early on but he too struggled. Despite his nine points, he looked flat and uncomfortable on the floor at times, failing to really transition from offense to defense or vice versa. It was a tough outing from the bench in general, providing 19 points in the 33 bench minutes that were accumulated in this game.