'An ugly win is much better than a pretty loss': Illini Survive Rutgers 54-51
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Turning the ugly win into a very beautiful thing is becoming the staple of this Illinois program under Brad Underwood.
Illinois turned a game where they shot just 28.6 percent from the field into a 54-51 home win over a surging Rutgers team Saturday afternoon thanks to quality defense and another leadership performance from its star guard.
And all of this is just fine with the Illini third-year head coach.
“Absolutely,” Underwood said with a smile. “Understand that an ugly win is much better than a pretty loss. It’s why we play this - to figure out ways to win.”
Illinois is now 7-42 all-time under Underwood, and 1-4 this season, when they shoot a worse percentage than its opponent. As of Jan. 11, Illinois is the only team in college basketball this season to win a game scoring fewer than 60 points while shooting less than 30 percent overall and less than 20 percent from three.
“We’ve been striving and striving and striving to win games when the ball doesn’t go in and you have to figure out who to do that,” Underwood said.
Ayo Dosunmu led all scorers with 18 points including the Illini’s final eight points to secure a third straight Big Ten Conference victory in a six-day period. Dosunmu, who had his hands on the basketball in each of the Illini’s final seven possessions of its 71-70 win at Wisconsin, made six consecutive free throws in the final 94 seconds to go with a driving layup in a game where Illinois’ biggest lead of the day was never more than six points.
In the final combined nine minutes and 28 seconds of the Illini’s wins over Wisconsin and Rutgers, Dosunmu has 13 points, four assists, four rebounds and the sophomore point guard has been the operative of Illinois’ 29 points during that stretch.
“This game is more impressive than the win on the road in Wisconsin. I say that because...when you get that win, okay, now what do you do after that?” Dosunmu said. “After that (Wisconsin) win, I feel like we could’ve come out complacent but we didn’t do that. In this game, we didn’t shoot the ball well in the first half but we kept our head up and defended. When our defense was set, I feel it was very hard for them to score.”
Illinois center Kofi Cockburn broke a school freshman record with his seventh double-double this season as the 7-foot, 290-pounder had 11 points and a season-high 17 rebounds in 30 minutes of action.
“It’s what is required of me and to have success as a big man here,” Cockburn said about the double-double record previously held for nearly 38 years by Efrem Winters. “It’s important for me as a big man to go rebound the ball and do the things around the basket my coaches ask of me.”
Rutgers was led by Jacob Young’s 16 points off the bench but he was the only Scarlet Knights player who matched or exceeded his season-long point average Saturday in front of an announced crowd of 11,070 inside State Farm Center.
With the win, Illinois (12-5, 4-2 in Big Ten) not only improves its NCAA Tournament resume just two months before Selection Sunday but also guarantees that it will end today in second place in the Big Ten Conference standings. Illinois is now two games over .500 in Big Ten play for the first time since Feb. 14, 2015 (7-5). The Illini will now have six days off before taking the home floor again on Jan. 18 for a 4 p.m. tip against Big Ten cellar-dweller Northwestern.