Illinois Basketball: Illini MVP in the win over Northwestern
By Jalen Wilson
The Illinois basketball team has improved their winning streak after beating the Northwestern Wildcats, 73-66.
Illinois pulled out a hard-fought win over Northwestern on Tuesday night, despite the Orange and Blue holding the lead for the entire game.
In the first half, Illinois came out blazing hot from the field, but they went through a drought right before halftime. That drought then carried into the second half, but Illinois was able to get it going to pull out the win. One player stood out from the rest in this game.
The MVP of this game is awarded to Kofi Cockburn.
In the first half, Kofi didn’t play well. He had 4 points and 2 rebounds in the first 20 minutes of the game. He couldn’t play a majority of the first half due to two early fouls. In the 2nd half, though, he played great and dropped 13 points and 8 rebounds. The Wildcats had no answer for Kofi in the second half. When he realized he had a mismatch down low, he exploited it every time.
At the end of the game, Kofi’s stats consisted of 17 points and 10 rebounds. He shot 7-of-11 from the field while shooting 3-of-6 from the free throw line. With some Illinois players going cold, Kofi stepped up.
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This Illinois basketball team is hot right now. They have won their previous six games. Next up, the Illini play the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Illinois already matched up with them earlier in the season where the Illini won 92-65. Hopefully, the Orange and Blue are able to improve their win streak to seven games.