Illinois, EIU Claim Wins, SIUE Drops Loss

FightingIllini.com

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The No. 5 Illinois Fighting Illini defeated Minnesota convincingly Saturday afternoon 94-63. Illinois was led by the second triple-double in four games from junior Ayo Dosunmu (19 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists) and 22 points and six rebounds from sophomore Kofi Cockburn.

The Illini jumped out to a strong start and took a 48-33 lead into the locker room at half time. Senior Trent Frazier capped off a 13-point first half with a half-court buzzer-beater to extend the Illinois lead before the break.

Illinois exploded out of halftime and never looked back, dominating in nearly every statistical category. Fastbreak points favored Illinois by a 31-8 margin, highlighted by numerous alley-oop dunks and flashy passes.

Senior Trent Frazier finished with 15 points, four assists and three rebounds while Jacob Grandison contributed twelve points, four assists and three rebounds of his own.

THROWING IT DOWN

Dunks were plentiful Saturday, with the Illini hammering the rims at The Barn. Junior Giorgi Bezhanishvili converted on a beautiful pass from Dosunmu halfway through the second half, and freshman Coleman Hawkins got in on the dunk party to cap off the showcase late in the game.

AYO AND KOFI

Dosunmu and Cockburn continue to solidify themselves as one of the top duos in the nation. In addition to their strong stat lines, they were each efficient from the field (Dosunmu – 9-for-16, Cockburn – 9-for-12). Ayo added two steals and Kofi had a big block.

FREE THROWS AND DEFENSE

Illinois shot a season best 86.7% from the free-throw line (13-for-15) with Cockburn and Grandison each going 4-for-4. Frazier led the defensive effort with six steals, as Illinois forced the Gophers into18 turnovers.

NEXT UP

Illinois is back in action on Tuesday, February 23 in East Lansing, Mich. taking on the Michigan State Spartans. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. CT and will be broadcasted on FS1.

NOTES

• Illinois has won seven straight Big Ten games, matching its longest streak last season. 

• Illinois has won five consecutive road games during Big Ten play (at PSU, at NW, at IND, at NEB, at MINN), its best stretch since a school record 13-game Big Ten road winning streak from Feb. 3, 2004 through Feb. 19, 2005. 

• Illinois' 12-3 conference record is its best through 15 games since the 2005 Big Ten championship team went 15-1 in Big Ten play. 

• Illinois has seven Quad 1 wins.

• Illinois recorded its second conference road win this season when scoring 90+ points (Dec. 23, 2020 at Penn State (98-81). The last time Illinois had two conference wins on the road scoring 90+ points was the 1990-91 season (March 2, 1991 at Northwestern (91-81) and Feb. 10, 1991 at Minnesota (94-74).

• Since scoring a season-low 63 points in the loss to Maryland, Illinois is averaging 79.3 points over the last eight games (634). 

• Illinois held Minnesota to 40.7% shooting (22-54). Illinois has held 11 of its last 12 opponents to less than 44% shooting. Since the loss to Ohio State, Illini foes are shooting a combined 39.9% over the last seven games (172-431). 

• Illinois is 14-1 this season when holding teams to less than 45% shooting. 

• Illinois outscored Minnesota in the paint, 48-20.

• Illinois outscored Minnesota on fast breaks, 31-8. 

• Illinois' +58 point season margin against Minnesota is the Illini's most ever in a two-game regular-season series against the Gophers since the series began in 1906.

• Illinois handed Minnesota its third-largest loss in Williams Arena history. 

• Illinois shot a season-best 86.7% (13-for-15) from the free throw line. It is the Illini's highest since March 5, 2020 at Ohio State (90.0%).

• Illinois forced 18 turnovers and had nine steals, both matching season highs (Dec. 12, 2020 at Missouri). It is the most turnovers in a conference game since Feb. 14, 2019 at Ohio State (18) and the most steals in a conference game since Feb. 11, 2020 vs. Michigan State (10).

• Ayo Dosunmu had 19 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists to became the first Illini in history to have two triple-doubles and the first Illini to have a triple-double on the road. 

 Ayo Dosunmu is the first major conference player to have multiple triple-doubles in one season since Wisconsin's Ethan Happ in 2018-19. Dosunmu joins Happ, Dennis Smith (NC State), Denzel Valentine (Michigan State), and Draymond Green (Michigan State) as major conference players with multiple triple-doubles in one season since 2010. 

• Ayo Dosunmu is averaging 21.0 points, 8.3 assists, and 6.8 rebounds in the last four games and has two triple-doubles. He is the first player in the last 25 seasons to reach those four marks in a four-game span.

• Ayo Dosunmu is averaging 21.2 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 5.3 assists per game. He is the only player in the NCAA over the last 11 seasons to average at least 20 points, six rebounds and five assists.

• Dosunmu is on pace to become just the second Big Ten player since 1993 to average 20 points, six rebounds and five assists, joining Ohio State's Evan Turner, the National Player of the Year in 2009-10. 

• Trent Frazier had a career-high six steals. It is the most by an Illini player since Luther Head on Jan. 20, 2005 vs. #23 Iowa (6).

• Kofi Cockburn had 22 points and six rebounds. At 17.6 ppg and 10.3 rpg overall, Cockburn is one of just three players from the high-major conferences currently averaging a double-double. He is on pace to become the first Illini player since Nick Weatherspoon in 1973 (25.0 ppg, 12.3 rpg) to average a double-double for an entire season. 

• Kofi Cockburn was 9-for12 shooting (75%). Cockburn has shot 60.0% or better in 16 games this season, which is tied for second-most in the nation.

• Cockburn is one of seven players nationally averaging at least 17 points and 10 rebounds, and he is the only player in the NCAA averaging 15+ points and 10+ boards while shooting at least 65%. 

• Dosunmu and Cockburn are combining for 38.8 points per game, the sixth-highest duo nationally, and third among the high-major conferences. 

• Illinois checks in at No. 5 in this week's AP rankings. It is the first time the Illini appear in the Top 5 of a February poll since 2005, and just the fourth time in the last 65 seasons (1989, 2001 and 2005). 

• Over the last two Big Ten seasons, Illinois has the best win percentage (.714) and most league wins (25). 

EIU 76, Austin Peay 69

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Eastern Illinois completed a weekend sweep of its trips to Murray State and Austin Peay as the Panthers picked up a 76-69 win over the Governors on Saturday night at the Dunn Center. 

EIU improved to 9-16 overall, 6-12 in the OVC.  APSU fell to 14-10 overall, 10-8 in the OVC. 

Eastern Illinois trailed 33-30 at the half despite shooting 50 percent from the floor.  Mack Smith would score 11 of his 22 points in the opening half going 3-of-3 on 3-pointers.    

Austin Peay took advantage of 13 first half turnovers by EIU, converting those turnover into 12 points. 

In the second half EIU took better care of the ball as EIU had only five second half turnovers while heating up to 60 percent shooting in the second half.  The Panthers shot 55 percent for the game. 

After trailing for most of the game, EIU took a 52-50 lead with 12:38 left in the game on a Sammy Friday IV lay-up in transition.  Following a dunk by Elton Walker off a missed shot, EIU went on a 5-0 run with Jordan Skipper-Brown converting free throws and Henry Abraham draining a 3-pointer in the corner. 

Skipper-Brown finished with a double-double for the second straight game finishing with 15 points and 11 rebounds.   He had nine of his points in the final 13 minutes. 

Smith would connect on his fifth 3-pointer of the game at the 4:09 mark of the second half moving into a tie for 10th on the Ohio Valley Conference career 3-pointers made list.  His bucket came after back-to-back jumpers by Terry Taylor that tied the game at 67-67 with 4:33 left in the game. 

The Panthers would close the game on a 9-2 run with Smith’s 3-pointer, a lay-up by George Dixon and free throws by Smith and Marvin Johnson accounting for EIU’s points.  Mike Peake had Austin Peay’s lone basket in the final stanza at the 2:25 mark.   APSU was 1-for-8 from the floor to end the game.  

Johnson joined Smith and Skipper-Brown in double figures for EIU with 12 points. 

Taylor added to his career double-double total with 25 points and 11 rebounds.  Peake had 14 points and Reginald Gee added 11 for the Governors. 

Murray State 89, SIUE 62

MURRAY, Ky. – SIUE men's basketball completed its road schedule Saturday, falling to Murray State 89-62 at the CFSB Center.
The Cougars slipped to 8-14 overall and 6-10 in the Ohio Valley Conference. SIUE has lost four games in a row for the first time this season.

"I just went around the locker room and shook everyone's hand in the locker room and let them know how much I appreciated what they're giving to our program right now," SIUE Head Coach Brian Barone said. "The circumstances that we are under right now are absolutely ridiculous. They're not batting an eye-the guys who were out there tonight. I have nothing but respect for that locker room right now."

Murray State, which improved to 13-10 overall and 10-8 in the OVC, seized control with a 13-0 run early in the first half. The run pushed the Racers' lead to 36-14 with 6:00 minutes to play before halftime. Mike Adewunmi snapped the run with a three-pointer.

Murray State took a 46-21 lead into halftime.

"Unfortunately, we didn't play the way we needed to past about the 5–6-minute mark tonight," Barone said. "We got stagnant offensively. Murray has kind of hit its stride as of late. Coming off a loss (Thursday) they wanted to protect their home court."

Bolstered by seven second-half three-pointers, the Racers built as much as a 35-point lead. Murray State finished 13-26 from three-point range and 18-28 (64 percent) overall.

Tevin Brown scored a game-high 29 points and was 7-9 from three-point range.

Three players finished in double figures scoring for SIUE, which finished at 38 percent shooting and 29 percent from three-point range.

Courtney Carter, Iziah James and Shamar Wright each scored 10 points for the Cougars. Mike Adewunmi scored nine points and Desmond Polk scored eight. Lamar Wright scored seven points. Michael Matas added six and Zane Butler scored two. Elochukwu Eze grabbed a season-high three rebounds.

"Our guys are battling," Barone said. "We have put ourselves in position to still be battling for something next week and that should not be forgotten."
SIUE is eighth in the OVC standings and has three games remaining in the regular season. The top eight teams qualify for the OVC Tournament.  

"The difference in our day-to-day is unique," Barone said. "I know there are other teams probably figuring out their roster and their situation as well, but I'd be hard-pressed to believe that our situation isn't as unique as anyone's across the country."

The Cougars finished the road schedule 6-7, winning more true road games than any previous team at the Division I level.

"We have won at places we have never won before," Barone said. "We won more games on the road than we have won before and under circumstance that no one has had to deal with anywhere ever before."

SIUE will finish its season with three home games beginning Monday against Morehead State at First Community Arena. Tipoff is scheduled for 5 p.m.