The Illinois basketball team defeated the Iowa Hawkeyes in the Big Ten tournament semi-finals, 82-71.
Illinois now heads into Sunday looking to be named the Big Ten Tournament champions. The Orange and Blue were in control of the tempo on Saturday, defeating Luka Garza and Company to move onto the championship against the Ohio State Buckeyes.
The Offense: A
The Illini did two things very well that they usually don’t do well: take care of the ball on offense and make their free throws. With only eight turnovers and a 75-percent free throw mark, the Illini looked sharp in this one. They shot 48-percent from the floor, en route to an 82-point showing.
The Defense: A
When you hold Iowa to a 41-percent shooting clip, that’s pretty good defense. Jordan Bohannon, Joe Wieskamp, and Luka Garza combined for 53 Iowa’s 71 points. Kofi Cockburn was able to hold Garza to a modest showing. Iowa only had 24 points in the paint compared to Illinois’ 52 points. A huge game for the defense that swarmed the Hawkeye offense all game.
Kofi Cockburn: A+
Scoring 26 points in just 24 minutes, Kofi was a human highlight reel on Saturday. He did an amazing job of staying aggressive against Garza all afternoon. Cockburn also snagged eights rebounds for the Illini.
Ayo Dosunmu: A
Dosunmu was once again in triple-double territory at the end of this one, dropping 18 points, 7 rebounds and 9 assists. The All-American guard is unbeatable when he’s going down court and continues to be a threat from all over the floor.
Trent Frazier: A-
Frazier had himself a very nice day, with 9 points, 5 assists and 0 turnovers. His stellar defense continues to be among the best in the league. I have a feeling March is going to have some big moments in store for the senior.
Adam Miller: B+
Miller continues to improve on both offense and defense. He had 8 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists. He looks a lot more comfortable on the court of late. Maybe Ayo being out was a blessing in disguise for some of these younger guys (see Miller, Curbelo) to get their rhythm going into the tournament. Either way, Miller has appeared to have found his stride of late.
Jacob Grandison: B
I love the energy that Grandison brings to this team. He hustles hard and is great on both sides of the ball. Call me crazy, but (not that Brad Underwood would do this) Grandison would be an interesting choice at the No. 5 spot instead of Giorgi, who has been struggling of late.
The Bench: A-
Andre Curbelo played 29 minutes and had 0 turnovers. That alone warrants an ‘A’. The freshman also seems to have found his groove of late and was feeding Kofi in the paint with his amazing passes all game. He is another guy with a ton of energy and had a nice steal with an easy layup in transition as a result. Curbelo is very fun to watch.
Da’Monte Williams got hit with the flagrant one foul in the second half but led the team in rebounds with nine on the night. Giorgi was the one soft spot on the bench for the Illinois basketball team on Saturday, notching four personal fouls in the span of just 13 minutes. He forced Brad Underwood to put in Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk for three minutes at the end of the game. Overall, great showing from the bench, once again flexing their depth.