This was Big Ten West football, in basketball form. It was a rock fight to be sure, but that’s what it takes some times if you’re going to win a high major conference title. Maybe that really is in the cards for this Illini basketball team?
#24 Illinois emerged victorious 59-56 tonight, largely on the strength of Kofi Cockburn and his 22 points, on 10-17 shooting. He also had eight rebounds, meanwhile no one else on Illinois even reached double figures. It marked the seventh straight win in the series for the Illini, third straight in Evanston.
It's always a de facto home game for the #Illini whenever Illinois plays at #Northwestern but this time
A. They're actually wearing home white uniforms
B. Feels like it's a higher orange and blue percentage of the crowd than ever. #IlliniNation pic.twitter.com/SJY2qAe8dp— Paul M. Banks (@PaulMBanks) January 29, 2022
While this Illini basketball team was a one man show on Saturday, you can say the same thing for Northwestern as well. Pete Nance was their only double figure scorer, who registered 22 points, on 8-15 shooting.
The 56 points matches the same amount that Northwestern scored the last time that they hosted the Illini, (1/7/21), but on that night they surrendered 81 points.
Illini basketball coach Brad Underwood heralded Cockburn, who had missed the last two games due to a concussion.
“He’s a competitor, a winner, a guys that’s gonna fight you,” said Underwood. “And to be honest we ran some actions that we haven’t ran in awhile without him.”
Illinois now leads the all-time series 141-42 and 65-28 in Evanston. Brad Underwood is now 7-2 versus Northwestern. Trent Frazier had a really off shooting night, finishing 2-10 from the field, and The Wildside, Northwestern’s student section, really let ’em know about it.
And that was especially meaningful, considering how the crowd at Welsh-Ryan Arena was overwhelmingly Illini basketball fans.
Credit the NU student section for being so persistent and consistent with the "airball" chants every time Trent Frazier touches the ball. #Illini https://t.co/BBWhRQcI9w
— Paul M. Banks (@PaulMBanks) January 29, 2022
Said Underwood: “It took everybody, a whole bench and some guys you don’t even seen a whole lot of.”
He also had a lot of praise for Da’Monte Williams, who slammed home the game’s most decisive basket off an offensive rebound.
“He’s not afraid to make a play, he’s incredible in the locker room, in the huddles, just put a big W next to his name,” the Illini basketball coach continued.
“Doesn’t do a whole lot that looks pretty on this (points at stat sheet) but all he does is guard the other team’s best player, who was five inches taller than him…won it on an offensive rebound.”
For Northwestern, it was their fifth loss in five conference home games. They have held second half leads in four of those five contests.
“If you asked me beforehand,” said Northwestern coach Chris Collins.
“They needed Kofi to take 17 shots and to get 20 points, and they got nothing out of Frazier, Grandison, Plummer, then I would have felt really good.”
The loss dropped NU to under .500 on the season and 2-8 in conference.
“We think we’re better than our record, but you are what you’ve earned, now our goal is to flip the script.”
They held a lead inside 2:30 in this one, and a six point advantage inside nine minutes. Asked about a potential common thread among all the games in which they snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, Collins said each game was its own story. He didn’t see a repeating pattern.
Sometimes it came down to foul shooting, he said, other times it was not getting a big stop in crunch time, and on other occasions it came down to not making the big shot that was needed.
Said Collins on the team’s morale amid all those blown leads:
“I don’t see guys playing timid, I see guys putting their hearts on the floor, and that’s what makes me sick, because they deserve better than this. We’re not gonna tap out, we’re gonna keep fighting.”
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Bank (TheSportsBank.Net) and author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” as well as “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune, and co-hosts the After Extra Time podcast. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.