Super-senior guards Trent Frazier and Da’Monte Williams will return, with Frazier providing on ball defense (2021 Big Ten All-Defense Team) and three point shooting and Williams adding all-purpose defensive playmaking. He averaged nearly a double-double per game (17.7/9.5). Kofi Cockburn returns as a defensive anchor at center and an offensive outlet. Rosterįor a team losing two starters, this team still looks pretty robust. There just isn’t any accounting for their activity during that time frame. Here’s where the trail runs cold I’m unable to find any records of what Illinois did after the Big Ten Tournament, which is a shame because they looked like they could have gone deep into the NCAA Tournament that was won by Baylor. They’d finish 16-4 in Big Ten play and win the Big Ten tournament. The Fighting Illini won 11 of their last 12 regular season games, losing star guard Ayo Dosunmu for a few games in a loss at Michigan State but nevertheless crushing Wisconsin and Michigan on the road in his absence. Two home losses to Maryland and Ohio State seemed to knock them out of the title race. They remained ranked, winning five Big Ten games and beating Northwestern 81-56 in a game they trailed 43-28 at the half. A road curbstomping of Duke made up for it, but infuriating losses to unranked Mizzou and at Rutgers had the Illini 5-3 overall on December 23rd. Most Of Last Season RecapĪ breakthrough season for head coach Brad Underwood started with two ridiculously dominant wins before a narrow escape against Ohio nevertheless had them ranked #5.Īfter the John Groce era and a seven year absence from the postseason, #5 Illinois played #2 Baylor. Nobody has won more Big Ten conference games over the last two seasons than Illinois, and there’s no reason that shouldn’t keep up for at least one more year. However, it’s a privilege to write about this particular Fighting Illini basketball team coming off a season where they won more Big Ten games than any other team, hung a Big Ten Tournament banner and earned a #1 seed. Frankly, it still feels early to talk about basketball even though the season starts soon there’s still ILLINOIS FOOTBALL to play and that’s where my energy is. I’m not one of the typical Illinois Fighting Illini fans that looks ahead to basketball as soon as football’s gone awry.
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