Illinois Basketball: Grades from the Illini loss against Purdue

The Illinois basketball team welcomed the No. 4 ranked Purdue Boilermakers to the State Farm Center on Monday morning.

This game was a battle from the start and might be the best game we will see all season long. Unfortunately, the Illini came up a short after battling back from a 13-point deficit to lose 96-88 in double overtime.

Here are some grades from the Illinois basketball loss against Purdue

Offense: B

The Illini offense was, once again, stagnant at times and was forced into some tough shots caused by a solid effort from the Boilermaker’s defense. Illinois shot around 30% in the first half and were down by eleven at halftime.

The offense was much better in the second half, though. Sophomore guard Andre Curbelo was a big reason for that. The ball moved better and the Illini hit a few open three-points, which got them back in the game.

Curbelo had a couple of huge buckets down the stretch to force overtime, as he finished with 20 points, three assists, and six rebounds.

Alfonso Plummer was also huge in the second half after struggling in the first 20 minutes of action. Plummer shot 6-of-12 from the three-point arc and finished with 24 points. Trent Fraizer was also really good in this game scoring 16 points with six assists and only one turnover.

Unfortunately, for the Illini, Kofi Cockburn had his worst game of the season. He lost the battle against Zach Edey, scoring only 10 points on 3-of-9 shooting. He also only played 22 minutes because of foul trouble.

Defense: B

Illinois’ defense was solid for the most part. The tandem of Da’Monte Williams and Trent Fraizer held Purdue’s star player, Jayden Ivey, to 3-of-10 shooting. Ivey still had 20 points because he went 13-of-15 from the free-throw line. Let’s just say the whistle didn’t quite go the Illini’s way in this one.

I want to make sure to mention the job Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk did on Zach Edey and Traveon Williams late in the game after Cockburn fouled out. Verdonk was absolutely fantastic in the minutes he provided after Omar Payne got put in Brad Underwood’s dog house due to a technical foul in the first half.

The Illini did, however, have a few defensive lapses late as Williams found a back door cutter twice for easy layups.

Overall: B

I am not upset with the way the Illini played in this game whatsoever. Not many things went the way of the Illini on Monday.

Cockburn had his worst game of the season, as he had no answer for Edey and couldn’t take advantage of him on the offensive end either. Purdue shot 26-of-32 from the free-throw line compared to Illinois shooting 12-of-15 from the charity stripe.

It was also great seeing Curbelo back on the court. He just takes this team’s ceiling to another level, as he can break down a defense at any time and play solid defense.

Illinois travels to Maryland on Friday, January 21, to take on the Terrapins. The Illini look to bounce back after their first conference loss of the season.