Illinois blows out Minnesota to open conference play
Lincoln's Jermaine Hamlin makes notable moves in the second half
By Greg Taylor

[December 18, 2020] 

For the first time in six seasons, Illini hoops opened Big Ten conference play with a victory, and what a win it turned out to be! Led by 33 points and 13 rebounds from sophomore center Kofi Cockburn, Illinois used a 22-3 run midway through the first half to blow out the Minnesota Golden Gophers 92-65. It was the second straight game where an Illini player scored more than 30 points, as junior All-American Ayo Dosunmu scored a Braggin’ Rights all-time record 36 points on Saturday night in Illinois’ loss at Missouri.

During Tuesday night’s game, once again with no fans in the State Farm center, media and others could hear both coaches yelling loudly, and the difference in the targets of the outburst say much about the realities both teams are facing this season. With just seconds left in the first half, Minnesota was attempting to score a bucket and get the Illinois lead to single digits. Coach Richard Pitino was furious with the officials, and especially Bo Boroski, that no foul was called as the half came to an end. He screamed at Boroski, “you are better than this Bo!” Pitino continued to be frustrated, and vocal, by the whistles for much of the game even though the Gophers were sent to the foul line 32 times in the game, seven more attempts than Illinois. I don’t do much in the world of predictions, but I’m guessing it could be a long season for Minnesota, especially in the loaded Big Ten.

Coach Brad Underwood also had his moments of intense communication for the entire arena to digest, but both times it was directed at his team, not others. Freshman point guard Andre Curbelo is really fun to watch, and I can’t wait to see what the next four years will bring from the Puerto Rico native. But he is also a player that attempts the seemingly impossible at times and following an ill-advised pass, all 141 of us in attendance could hear Coach Underwood say, “get him out of the game now.” As the freshman made his way to the bench, there would be no handshakes and water for him right away as the head coach took time passionately to explain why he was no longer in the game. Curbelo would sit for several minutes and seemed much more in control when he returned late in the first half.

The other moment where Underwood could be heard, you might even want to say he lost it, was late in the game with Illinois up by 30 points. The Illini committed yet another foul, and Underwood had seen enough. During the ensuing timeout, all of Champaign County could hear the coach as he repeatedly screamed “stop fouling!” He might have said it ten times. There might have been a couple of additional words shared as well, but this is a family friendly column so we will leave it there. Why do I share this? Because this is what makes a good team potentially great. Underwood could have shrugged his shoulders and said, “let’s just get this game over.” But instead, he used this as a teaching moment, to help his players understand they really are fouling too much. Saturday’s loss at Missouri was tough to swallow, and I personally thought the officiating was really subpar for both teams. But you know what? Illinois did foul too much, and they need to get this weakness corrected sooner than later.

I almost packed up and left at the 4-minute media timeout in the second half as Illinois was up big at that point. Wow am I glad I didn’t! Lincoln’s Jermaine Hamlin brought down the house, as much as you can during Covid-19, with back-to-back slam dunks and I don’t think the Illini bench has been that excited this season! There is a picture making its way through social media that shows the Illinois players following the second throw down by Hamlin and it almost brought tears to my eyes to see the love this team has for our former Lincoln High School star. Well done, Jermaine! Well done, Illinois hoops!

With the win, #13 Illinois improves to 5-2 on the year, and 1-0 in the conference, and will now face two consecutive road tests at Rutgers on Sunday and at Penn State next Wednesday before welcoming the Indiana Hoosiers to Champaign on the day after Christmas.

[Greg Taylor]