The Illinois basketball program has seen a lot of growth in the last month, leading to a No. 5 ranking and an opportunity at greatness.
Brad Underwood is finally putting all of the puzzle pieces together at the right time. After a rocky start that saw Illinois lose to No. 2 Baylor, Missouri, and Rutgers, the Illini found themselves at a crossroads as the 2020-21 season was nearing the midway point.
It was time to put up or shut up if the Big Ten’s biggest storyline was going to have a chance to reach the national championship.
Here are three things that have propelled the Illini to a five-game winning streak.
1. Silencing the critics.
Some pundits and media members wrote them off, while others in the Illini media space felt that the best was yet to come.
After a 10-day break in early-January, the Orange and Blue finally redefined its identity, which started with a home win against Penn State, a team in which Illinois overcame a 19-4 deficit to win on the road just weeks prior.
Then came the stretch that has defined their regular season, and possibly cemented the legacy of a few of the key starters that the team possesses.
A critical home win against a top 10 Iowa team was followed by an overtime road win against Indiana, sweeping the season series with the Hoosiers. This victory required a late-fourth quarter rally, along with clutch defense and free throws in the extra session to seal it.
2. Ayo Dosunmu adding to an electrifying chapter of his career.
The last two victories, against No. 19 Wisconsin and unranked Nebraska, were, in so many words, Ayo Dosunmu’s coming-out party. Dosunmu, a Morgan Park graduate, came to Illinois with the goal of bringing the Illini back to national relevance.
It’s safe to say that in nearly three years of the Chicago native sporting the No. 11 jersey, he has done just that. His last two outings have provided an exclamation point to what he has meant to the University, along with the basketball program as a whole.
In the 77-72 overtime win against Nebraska, Dosunmu essentially carried his squad to a win, as he finished the game with 31 points, 3 rebounds, and 6 assists. His night included two second-half buckets, including a dagger in the extra session, to steal a road win against a struggling Cornhuskers team.
3. Trent Frazier has helped lead the senior class.
Trent Frazier has been one of the main catalysts of the program since Underwood’s arrival in 2017. As of late, he has stepped up when his team has needed him most.
While the attention has been mainly focused on Dosunmu, Frazier quietly put together a 25-point performance against the Hawkeyes and has helped the Orange and Blue get key stops on the defensive end of the floor as well.
The more Frazier produces the longer that Illinois will continue to hang around in games, regardless of the environment the team is placed in.
As February will eventually turn to March, the Illini find themselves in the thick of the Big Ten title race, as fellow foes No. 3 Michigan and No. 4 Ohio State are also in line for a championship. No. 11 Iowa cannot have any room for error, though they are most likely on the outside looking in.
The Illini return home to face Northwestern Tuesday night at 8 p.m. before traveling to Minnesota to rematch the Golden Gophers Saturday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. Illinois won the first meeting between both schools, 81-56 and 92-65, respectively. At press time, the Illini sport a 14-5 record with a 10-3 mark in Big Ten play.