Nebraska ran into a motivated Illinois basketball program on Thursday night, and it didn’t end well for them.
Senior night in Champaign, Ayo Dosunmu out with injury and an angry Illini bunch coming off a loss. This all spelled disaster for the Cornhuskers. Illinois came out of the gates swinging, and Nebraska didn’t have an answer. The Illini would wind up winning the game 86-70.
Here are four observations from the Illini win over the Nebraska Cornhuskers.
1. Nebraska had no answer for Kofi
The roller coaster of emotions with Kofi Cockburn continued on Thursday night against Nebraska. There have been times where Kofi frustrates me, but last night was not one of those nights.
Kofi was sensational against the Cornhuskers. He ended the game with 24 points, 7 rebounds and 1 block. He shot 8-of-10 from the field and what was even more impressive was his 8-of-10 from the free throw line.
Hold the phones, did I type that right? 8-of-10 from the free throw line? That is 80-percent. On Tuesday, you would have thought Kofi just picked up the basketball for the first time against Michigan State. He only hit 3-of-11 from the charity stripe in that game. He was nearly 53-percent better in a matter of two days.
This was Kofi’s best game in months as well. 24 points is the highest scoring total for the big man since the first Minnesota game back on December 15 when he dropped 33 points. This was Kofi’s best free throw shooting night when he attempts at least 10 free throws as well. The previous best was the second Penn State game where he hit 9-of-13 from the foul line, which is 69.2-percent.
Kofi had a big game when he needed to have a big game. Without Ayo Dosunmu leading the way, Illinois needed someone to step up. Thankfully, we have one of the most dominant big men in the game.