Illinois Basketball: Illini MVP in the win over Wisconsin

The Illinois basketball team improve their win streak to four games after beating the Wisconsin Badgers on Saturday, 75-60.

This was an impressive win for the Illini.  The Orange and Blue were clicking on offense and defense. Two Illini players stuck out to me, so there will be co-MVPs for this game.

The co-MVPs of the game are Ayo Dosunmu and Kofi Cockburn.

Dosunmu recorded a triple-double and is just the third player in Illini history to do so. His stats consisted of 21 points, 12 assists, 12 rebounds, and 2 steals. Dosunmu had a good shooting day as he shot 6-of-12 from the field and 9-of-11 from the free-throw line. He also did a great job of creating for others while playing solid defense.

Cockburn had a double-double in this game. He dropped 23 points to go along with 14 rebounds and 1 block. Cockburn shot 10-of-13 from the field and 3-of-6 from the free-throw line. His defense was also on-point for the Illini. Cockburn was able to stay with Wisconsin’s big men when they would go out to the perimeter as well.

Other players such as Da’Monte Wiliams and Giorgi Bezhanishvili stepped up and played well. But Dousnmu and Cockburn both were consistent and played like All-Americans, which is why they got the MVPs of this game.

This win improved the Illinois basketball record to 13-5 overall and 9-3 in Big Ten play. Illinois’ game against Michigan was postponed, but they have since scheduled a game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers on Friday. We will see if Illinois can continue to add to their winning streak.