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Illinois Basketball: Top 7 teams Kofi Cockburn dominated during Illini career

By Rees Woodcock

Dec 23, 2020; University Park, Pennsylvania, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini center Kofi Cockburn (21) drives the ball to the basket as Penn State Nittany Lions forward John Harrar (21) defends during the first half at Bryce Jordan Center. Mandatory Credit: Matthew OHaren-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 23, 2020; University Park, Pennsylvania, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini center Kofi Cockburn (21) drives the ball to the basket as Penn State Nittany Lions forward John Harrar (21) defends during the first half at Bryce Jordan Center. Mandatory Credit: Matthew OHaren-USA TODAY Sports /
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UNIVERSITY PARK, PA – DECEMBER 23: Kofi Cockburn #21 of the Illinois Fighting Illini takes a shot over Trent Buttrick #15 of the Penn State Nittany Lions during a college basketball game on December 23, 2020 at the Bryce Joyce Center in University Park, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA – DECEMBER 23: Kofi Cockburn #21 of the Illinois Fighting Illini takes a shot over Trent Buttrick #15 of the Penn State Nittany Lions during a college basketball game on December 23, 2020 at the Bryce Joyce Center in University Park, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) /

No. 4 Penn State Nittany Lions

Everyone expects Illinois basketball to tear through the Penn State Nittany Lions, but the way they were able to dismantle Penn State during Kofi’s career was something special. There was zero chance for the Nittany Lions to contain him.

Illinois has gotten the best of Penn State historically. There isn’t a big history between the two teams, but the Illini are 31-18 in the 49 games they have played against each other. That gap was a lot bigger prior to the 2015-16 campaign, though.

The 2015-16 season started a nasty trend in the Illinois vs Penn State series. The Illini, for the most part, had Penn State’s number. But then the Nittany Lions rattled off six straight victories. They didn’t lose to Illinois for four seasons in a row. That is a streak I didn’t think would ever happen. In steps Kofi.

After losing six straight, Illinois has now won the last three against Penn State. Kofi was 3-0 against the Nittany Lions and dominated in every game they played. For the three games, Kofi averaged 19.3 points, 8.3 rebounds and 2 blocks per contest. His best performance against Penn State featured the big man putting up 21 points, 12 rebounds and 4 blocks. Those are insane numbers.

Kofi’s 19.3 points and 2 blocks per game rank No. 3 and No. 2 among the top seven most dominated teams, respectively. When the lights turned out, Kofi showed up to play against Penn State. He helped buck an ugly trend of losing for the Illini.

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