Illinois Basketball: 5 observations from the Illini win against Michigan

4. Hawkins is still flying high

It was fun seeing Coleman Hawkins playing well against Ohio State last Thursday. He was one of the few bright spots on the Illinois basketball team, and he was the main reason we got back in that game.

But I was skeptical that Hawkins was going to see extended minutes moving forward. He played 26 minutes against the Buckeyes, but I was fully expecting Brad Underwood to cut him back to 10-14 minutes where he normally was playing.

That didn’t happen, though. Underwood stuck with the hot hand, and Hawkins performed well once again. He would be an impactful player against Michigan on both ends of the court.

In the 27 minutes Hawkins would see against the Wolverines, he would put up six points, four rebounds, one assist, and one steal while hitting 2-of-7 from the field and 1-of-2 from three-point range. The box score numbers don’t tell the whole story with Hawkins, though.

The thing that impressed me most about Hawkins’ performance was his defense and understanding of what is going on. He has taken huge leaps forward in development over the past few months, and it is showing on the court.

There was one play where a Michigan player was driving to the hoop. Hawkins was able to sneak a hand in and strip the ball away, which caused a turnover. On another play, Hawkins was trailing a Michigan player as he was driving to the basket. Two Illinois players collapsed on the Michigan player, leaving Hunter Dickinson wide open for a dunk. Hawkins stepped in and stole the pass to Dickinson.

It is the little defensive effort plays like this that show me Hawkins is getting it. He is developing as a player. The box score doesn’t show it all. This kid is really coming along.