FINAL - No. 5 Illinois 94, Minnesota 63: Ayo Dosunmu (19 pts, 10 assists, 10 rebounds)
Good afternoon as No. 5 Illinois (15-5, 11-3) travel to 'The Barn' of Williams Arena (13-9, 6-9) for a Saturday afternoon matchup.
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Game 21: No. 5 Illinois at Minnesota
Date/Time/Place: Friday, Feb. 20, 2021: 2:30 p.m. CST, Williams Arena in Minneapolis, Minn.
Capacity: N/A (NO FANS!)
Records: Illinois 15-5, 11-3 in Big Ten Conference; 21–10, 13–7 in Big Ten Conference in 2019-20 season. Minnesota is 13-9, 6-9 in Big Ten Conference; 15–16 (8–12 in Big Ten Conference) in 2019-20 season.
Line: Illinois by 4
Series notes: Illinois leads the all-time series 125-68 and but Minnesota leads the series in Minneapolis at 48-45. Illinois won the matchup in Champaign (92-65) by its largest margin of victory in a Big Ten opener since 1984.
TV: FOX; Brandon Gaudin (Play-by-Play), Stephen Bardo (Analyst)
Radio (Illinois): Brian Barnhart (PBP), Doug Altenberger (analyst).
Projected Starters:
Illinois
Ayo Dosunmu - G
Trent Frazier - G
Adam Miller - G
Jacob Grandison - F
Kofi Cockburn - C
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Minnesota
Marcus Carr - G
Jamal Mashburn - G
Tre' Williams - G
Brandon Johnson - F
Liam Robbins - F
PRE-GAME NOTES
- Winners of six in a row, No. 5 Illinois begins a stretch with three straight road games on Saturday afternoon at Minnesota (2:30 p.m. CT, FOX).
- Illinois has won four consecutive road games during league play (at PSU, at NW, at IND, at NEB), its best stretch since a school record 13-game Big Ten road winning streak from Feb. 3, 2004 through Feb. 19, 2005.
- Illinois’ 11-3 conference record is its best through 14 games since the 2005 Big Ten championship team started 14-0 en route to a 15-1 league record.
- Illinois is fourth in the current NET rankings, and No. 5 overall (No. 2 seed) in the NCAA Tournament Committee’s initial ranking of the top 16 teams.
- Illinois has six Quad 1 wins, tied for third-most in the NCAA. The Illini own a combined 10 victories in Quads 1 and 2, meanwhile, tied for fourth nationally.
- 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 (.706) and most league wins (24).
- Illinois guard Ayo 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.
- Dosunmu ranks 11th in the NCAA in scoring at 21.3 ppg. That is the highest average by an Illini since Rick Schmidt in 1974 (21.4 ppg).
- Kofi Cockburn ranks second in the NCAA with 15 double-doubles this season. He has posted double-doubles in 12 of 14 Big Ten games, averaging 18.8 points and 11.3 rebounds during league play. At 17.4 ppg and 10.6 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. 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-plus points and 10-plus boards while shooting at least 65 percent.
- Dosunmu and Cockburn are combining for 38.7 points per game, the sixth-highest duo nationally, and third from among the high-major conferences.
Illinois Fighting Illini guard Trent Frazier (1) drives to the basket as Minnesota Gophers center Daniel Oturu (25) defends during the second half at Williams Arena.
Harrison Barden/USA TODAY Sports
- Trent Frazier has seen his scoring increase recently, averaging 13.8 points (83) while making an average of 2.7 treys per contest (16) over the last six games.
- Freshman Andre Curbelo ranks third in the Big Ten in assists during league play at 4.9 apg. He is averaging 4.3 assists on the season, currently ranking fifth on the school’s all-time freshman assists chart behind legendary Illini point guards Bruce Douglas, Derek Harper, Dee Brown and Deron Williams.
- Illinois has freshmen playing prominent roles for the fourth year in a row under Coach Underwood. Adam Miller has started every game this season and ranks third among all Big Ten freshmen in scoring, averaging 8.7 ppg.
- Da’Monte Williams is second in the NCAA in 3-point shooting (min. 1.5 att/g), connecting on 23-of-40 for 57.5%
- Minnesota is 13-1 at Williams Arena this season (17th time in school history with 13 home wins) and averages 80.6 points, while allowing only 68.3. In scoring 1,129 points at Williams Arena, Minnesota has made 371 field goals, 104 3-pointers and 283 free throws (opponents have attempted only 291 free throws at Williams Arena). Minnesota also has lopsided home numbers in assists (230-185), blocks (70-35) and steals (88-70).
- Gabe Kalscheur broke a finger in his right hand (shooting hand) when the team was practicing at Maryland on Feb. 16. Kalscheur, who started the first 88 games of his career, did not play at Indiana and is out indefinitely. The junior ranks sixth in school history in made threes (180) and attempted threes (521). Kalscheur has scored 916 points for Minnesota and is 84 shy away of scoring 1,000 for his career.
MEDIA TIMEOUT: 15:17 left in 1st - No. 5 Illinois 9, Minnesota 8 - In Champaign, Kofi Cockburn had a career-high 33 points and Minnesota is doubling and triple-teaming the 7-footer every time he catches it. Result? He still already has four points.
Trent Frazier is doing an excellent job of keeping Marcus Carr in front of him defensively.
MEDIA TIMEOUT: 11:44 left in 1st - No. 5 Illinois 19, Minnesota 16 - Jacob Grandison is off to an excellent start (7 pts, 2 assists, 1 steal) on both ends of the floor and he hasn't missed a shot from either the field or the foul line. Minnesota's Marcus Carr has decided to take advantage of freshman Andre Curbelo.
MINNESOTA TIMEOUT: 10:17 left in 1st - No. 5 Illinois 23, Minnesota 19 - If Kofi Cockburn catches the ball in the post, there's nothing Minnesota can do. Nothing. Illini are 8 of 12 from the field and 5 of 5 from the line.
MEDIA TIMEOUT: 7:44 left in 1st - No. 5 Illinois 30, Minnesota 23 - Illinois has made 8 of its last 9 field goal attempts and is currently running Minnesota into a tempo they're not comfortable with. 11-0 Illini advantage in fast break points. Frazier with 8 points.
MEDIA TIMEOUT: 3:51 left in 1st - No. 5 Illinois 34, Minnesota 29 - Illinois is up five points and Ayo Dosunmu has only four points in this first half. Minnesota forward Liam Robbins already with five blocks today.
HALFTIME: No. 5 Illinois 48, Minnesota 33 - WOW. Trent Frazier steals the pass to Marcus Carr and unleashes a half-court shot that hits nothing but net. Frazier has 13 points in this first half and Illini outscore Minnesota on the break 19-3 in first 20 minutes of action. Illinois shot 5 of 7 from three-point range and 11 of 11 from foul line.
MEDIA TIMEOUT: 15:07 left - No. 5 Illinois 65, Minnesota 42 - Illinois is simply just beating Minnesota down the floor. Not complicated. Illini with 25 points on the break and some of those are after made Minnesota baskets. Cockburn with 18 points.
MEDIA TIMEOUT: 11:18 left - No. 5 Illinois 75, Minnesota 46 - Ayo Dosunmu with 15 points, nine assists, four rebounds and two steals today. With a 30-point lead, Illinois experimenting with the two bigs (Kofi & Giorgi) lineup.
MEDIA TIMEOUT: 7:41 left - No. 5 Illinois 86, Minnesota 52: Andre Curbelo needed an up-and-down transition game like this where he can build back up his confidence. Grandison (12), Frazier (15), Dosunmu (19) and Cockburn (22) in double figures.
MEDIA TIMEOUT: 3:45 left - No. 5 Illinois 91, Minnesota 60: Ayo Dosunmu (19 pts, 10 assists, nine rebounds) is one rebound away from the program's fourth ever triple double and his second this season.
FINAL - No. 5 Illinois 94, Minnesota 63: Ayo Dosunmu (19 pts, 10 assists, 10 rebounds) - Dosunmu gets his second and the program's 4th ever triple double. Illinois gets 31 fast break points and 48 points in the paint. Illini complete a season sweep of Minnesota by 58 points.