Illinois Basketball: Illini MVP in the win against Michigan

The Illinois basketball team has now won three-straight games after beating the Michigan Wolverines, 76-53.

The Illini beat Michigan without their best player in Ayo Dosunmu. They played great from start to finish. This Illini defense just suffocated the Wolverines.

Illinois didn’t allow Michigan to take any easy shots. On offense, the Illini were clicking on all cylinders. Multiple players stepped up and had good games, but two players stuck out from the rest.  That is why there will be co-MVPs for this game.

The co-MVPs for this game goes to Trent Frazier and Kofi Cockburn.

Frazier played great in one of the most important games of his Illini career. His stats consisted of 22 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals and 1 assist. He also shot 7-of-18 from the field and 2-of-5 from three-point range.

All those stats are great, but the main reason I had Frazier as the MVP of this game was his defense. For most of the game, he was guarding Michigan guard Mike Smith. Coming into the matchup, Smith was averaging 8.6 points per game while shooting 45-percent from the field. Frazier was able to hold Smith to just five points and forced him to turn the ball over twice. Frazier played the best defense he’s ever played in an Illinois uniform.

Kofi’s stats for this game consisted of 12 points, 7 rebounds and 1 block. He shot 6-of-10 from the field and 0-of-1 from the free-throw line. While he didn’t have the best performance on offense, Kofi made up for it on defense. He held Hunter Dickinson to just six points while shooting 1-of-8 from the field.

Frazier and Kofi were a big reason why this Illinois basketball team was able to dominate the Michigan Wolverines. Next up is Ohio State on Saturday. We will see if Illinois can continue their winning streak.