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Illinois Basketball: 4 observations from the Illini win over Kansas State

By Rees Woodcock

Nov 23, 2021; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Brad Underwood reacts to play against the Kansas State Wildcats during the second half at T-Mobile Center. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 23, 2021; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Brad Underwood reacts to play against the Kansas State Wildcats during the second half at T-Mobile Center. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports /
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Nov 23, 2021; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini center Kofi Cockburn (21) shoots a free throw against the Kansas State Wildcats during the second half at T-Mobile Center. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 23, 2021; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini center Kofi Cockburn (21) shoots a free throw against the Kansas State Wildcats during the second half at T-Mobile Center. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports /

3. Kofi is rounding into shape

During what I call the preseason and mostly everyone else calls the exhibition games, Kofi Cockburn looked tired. He looked like he was not in game shape.

Well, Kofi then had to sit out three games due to suspension, so he couldn’t get into season game-shape against cakewalk programs. His first game would end up being against Cincinnati.

While Kofi didn’t look bad against the Bearcats, he did wear down quickly. By halftime, the big man was dragging and not moving well. This is expected for the first game of the season and the number of times Illinois was feeding him the ball.

Thankfully, Kofi is rounding into game-shape quickly. He looked really good against Kansas State. I don’t think he is fully up-to-speed just yet, but Kofi is looking like the All-American center that everyone has come to know over the past couple of seasons.

By mid-season, look for Kofi to start getting National Player of the Year mentions again. He dropped 23 points and 13 rebounds against Kansas State. That is going to be what he does every night here shortly.

So, while it took a game or two to really get going, Kofi is playing well again and the rust is fully off of him. He looked in near peak form against the Wildcats on Tuesday night. I feel bad for whoever has to play against him the rest of the season. Kofi is a monster.

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