Illini Drop Pesky Gophers, 59-51
By Jeff Mayfield

[January 31, 2020]  The good times continued to roll Thursday night at the State Farm Center as the Illinois Fighting Illini won their 7th league game in a row, 59-51 over the pesky Minnesota Golden Gophers before a sell-out crowd!

Andres Feliz came flying off the bench and led the way for Illinois with 17 points and 8 big rebounds, which is just amazing when you consider his diminutive size. But before I single out any more players let me just say that just about everybody contributed in this one!

A 13-point lead had slipped to 1 with just 90 seconds left when Giorgi Bezhanishvili stepped to the free throw line for two of the biggest free throws of his life. He somehow canned them both giving the Illini some breathing room. From there Da’Monte Williams continued his season long all-out hustle, lockdown defense, and gritty rebounding finishing with seven and by making two amazing defensive plays down the stretch. And Feliz made two more free throws to put this one in the bank.

Ayo Dosunmu and Kofi Cockburn contributed 13 points a piece with of course, Kofi hauling down 10 rebounds. I can never overstate in these articles the incredible difference he makes not just by being out there, but his massive force as a post presence. He is such a difference maker! A fact to back me up-Illinois is 2nd in the nation in rebound margin-only Houston has edged us there-fantastic.

But tonight it was Feliz. He threw his body around constantly putting it out there ahead of his shots and he probably deserved to go to the charity stripe a few times for some and1s, but I’ll save that review for another time.

As a former player and coach Illinois worried me earlier this season with their sloppy play. They were not only committing way too many turnovers, but they were of the unforced variety. The coaches have done an excellent job of cleaning that up. And speaking of Illini coaches doing a great job, how ‘bout that little defensive wrinkle at the end of the game last night? Since you never know what spies are scouring LDN coverage for insider tips, I’ll just say go back and watch the tape and see how the Illini confused the Gophers on their last two possessions-brilliant!

The experts say that we’ll see how good the Illini are over the next 5 games. What? That would be a gauntlet for any team to face-five ranked opponents in a row!

Though I know our guys won’t back down let’s don’t put all the pressure in the world on them for this one stretch. And what about their body of work so far? I for one say praise the players, praise the coaches, and celebrate one game at a time!

Next up is the always tough road trip to face those even peskier Iowa Hawkeyes on Sunday.

Heartfelt Shout Out to Robert Archibald

One of our favorite All-Time Illini, Robert Archibald was found dead in his home last Friday. Archibald was part of the team that won two Big Ten titles in the early 2000s and was just a tenacious rebounder and defensive stalwart. His former Olympic Coach Chris Finch said this about Arch, “He possessed all the attributes a winner could ask for – skilled, smart and fearless.

He gave us strength and credibility and represented Great Britain and his native Scotland with all the toughness and determination that those nations’ best athletes are renowned for.”
And that’s exactly how I remember him. I was rookie reporter when he was coming on to the scene with Lincoln’s own Brian Cook. I didn’t know where to stand, what the protocol was, or just the best way to go about connecting with the players. He always took the time to answer every question and made the process through wins or losses, less painful for us. Good people like him always make the difference in every venue of life. I am heartbroken to hear the news of his passing and our hearts go out to his family and friends especially today for his services in Barrington. Godspeed Arch!

By JEFF MAYFIELD]

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