Illini Dutifully Handle The Citadel, 85-57
By Jeff Mayfield

[November 21, 2019]  It’s starting to come together. The Illinois Fighting Illini have begun to fix some of their broken parts and it led to an 85-57 thrashing of the The Citadel Wednesday night in the State Farm Center.  It was Military Appreciation Night at the SFC and I think everyone was appreciative.

It was also a moment in time that might not soon be forgotten as Illini freshman Kofi Cockburn broke a 30-year old freshman record when he hauled down his 17th rebound of the night. The old record of 16 was held by former Illini great Deon Thomas who pulled down 16 rebounds down in Memphis back in 1990.

And Kofi was good early and often, pulling down as many as 7 or 8 boards before the first media timeout. And his touch around the basket seemed to open up things for all of his teammates. Kofi ended the night with 18 points, 17 rebounds and 1 vicious blocked shot.

LDN basketball correspondent Greg Taylor, who viewed the action from his media perch, agreed with me that the Illini are on the right track. In fact, Greg literally and figuratively preaches the dump-down all the time. Others call it pitching it into the post. Some just say get a post touch every other time down the court. However, they do it-the more they do it the better this team will be.

Not to be outdone was Kofi’s big running mate Giorgi Bezhanishvili. Giorgi was searching for a double-double of his own and nearly got there finishing with 16 points, nine rebounds and two assists. Ayo Dosumnu seemed to assert his will a little more in this one and he finished the night with 16 points as well. Trent Frazier tallied 9 points to go along with 5 assists, Andres Feliz chipped in 8 points with 4 rebounds and 3 assists and Da’Monte Williams grabbed 9 rebounds.

Illinois had a whopping 55-35 rebounding margin and committed only 13 turnovers on the night. The Illini shot a hefty 61% from the field in the second half.

Lincoln’s Jermaine Hamlin scored his first points ever for the Illini with a thundering, ferocious dunk. He will remember that basket for the rest of his life. He also pulled down two rebounds. And seeing him sport the old #34 jersey brings back a lot of exciting memories. That was the number that Lincoln’s own Brian Cook made famous during his Illini tenure.

With the win the Illini move to 4-1 on the young season and they will host Hampton Saturday night at 7pm.

[By JEFF MAYFIELD]

Respond to the writer at [e-mail].