POST-GAME VIDEO: No. 5 Illinois 94, Minnesota 63 - Illini Guard Trent Frazier
Illinois guard Trent Frazier spoke to national, local and statewide media via Zoom video following the 94-63 overtime win at Minnesota on Feb. 20.
Frazier finished with 15 points that included a half-court shot to beat the halftime buzzer. Frazier’s highlight reel shot was the product of, once again, staying with Minnesota star guard Marcus Carr.
In Champaign on Dec. 15, Carr registered a paltry 3-of-13 shooting as Frazier managed to stay in front of him the entire evening and Saturday afternoon was the same story as the Gophers leading scorer finished with just 12 points just who entered the game averaging 19.4 on 3-of-11 shooting.
“I think it’s about me being laser-focused when we face a team that has a guy like that who can put 30 to 40 (points) up at any given game,” Frazier said. “I try to put myself in great positions to get deflections, steals and give our team a chance to win on the defensive end.”
Illinois got 31 points off their fast break transition offense as their guards recorded 21 of the team’s 37 rebounds and the Illini forced Minnesota into 18 turnovers.
“Really proud of our guys because I thought it was a 40-minute defensive effort,” Illinois head coach Brad Underwood said. “I thought we did a really nice job of disrupting their patterns, rhythms, sets and trying to take those away.”
Illinois is still behind No. 3 Michigan (15-1, 10-1) in the Big Ten standings by winning percentage in league games but the Wolverines play at No. 4 Ohio State (18-4, 12-4) on Sunday in a noon tip on CBS. The Illini will end its 2020-21 season with four of its last five regular season games on the road including trips to Michigan (March 2) and Ohio State (March 6). ESPN.com analyst Joe Lunardi has Illinois as the highest ranked No. 2 seed in his projected NCAA tournament field directly behind Michigan and Ohio State.