Illinois Basketball: 4 observations from the Illini win over Iowa

2. Frazier breakout game

I dabbled in this with the previous slide, but it was so nice to see Trent Frazier play well against Iowa. He has been dealing with an injury lately, but on Monday night, the super-senior broke out in a big way.

In the past four contests leading up the bout against the Hawkeyes, Frazier was only shooting 16% from the field and 13.6% from the three-point arc. He was averaging 3.3 points, 4.5 assists, and 2.5 steals per game in this stretch as well.

Frazier needed a game where he could let loose. He needed a game against Iowa, a team he has dominated in recent years. The Hawkeyes were his cure for bad play.

On Monday night, Frazier busted out of his slump. He finished the game with 18 points, eight rebounds, two assists, and two steals while shooting 55.5% from the floor and 60% from three-point range. He also got to the charity stripe for six attempts and made five of them.

For Frazier’s career against Iowa leading up to Monday night, he was averaging 14.4 points, 2.5 assists, 2.0 rebounds, and 1.5 steals per game. He has now added to those numbers after the big conference victory.

If we can continue getting this great play out of Frazier the rest of the way, then there is no telling how far this Illini team can go. It is so nice to see him playing well.