Illinois Nips Sparty, 56-55
By Jeff Mayfield

[January 25, 2022]   In a battle of Big Ten heavyweights, the No. 24 Illinois Fighting Illini staved off the No. 10 Michigan State Spartans 56-55 for the upset before a sold out State Farm Center.

The Illini used a stingy defense and took advantage of a cold shooting night by MSU, to hold Sparty at bay. AND the Illini won this game without the services of their two pre-season All-American players, Kofi Cockburn and Andre Curbelo.

The win stopped the bleeding for the Illini who were riding a two-game losing streak {a home loss to Purdue and a road loss at Maryland] coming into this contest but now have climbed back into first place at 7-2 and 14-5 overall. Michigan State falls to 15-4 and 6-2 in the league.

The Illini held the Spartans to 35% shooting and only committed 7 turnovers while forcing 11 MSU miscues! They also held State to only 20 first-half points, their season low!

Three Stars

#1-Trent Frazier - guys on media row were expressing the last few games the question of where would the Illini be without Trent Frazier? The answer=home watching the BT elite teams on their couches! Trent helped build the big first half lead that in many ways helped the Illini hold off State. Trent finished the night with 16 points [Illinois only scored 56!], 5 assists, and 3 rebounds. His leadership, the way he runs the show, and the way he hits big shots from long range, all lend themselves to successful outcomes!

#2-Alphonso Plummer - not hitting at the high percentage he was earlier in the season, but he still makes big shots at critical times in games. He was good for 11 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds and 1 assist. He and Frazier both played 36 minutes.

#3-TIE - the 4-headed monster of Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk, Omar Payne, Coleman Hawkins & Brandon Lieb AND Luke Goode=Verdonk tallied 8 points, 3 rebounds and 1 steal.

Omar Payne contributed 7 points, 3 rebounds, 2 blocks, and 1 assist. Coleman Hawkins had 2 big rebounds and was fighting viciously for loose balls and Brandon Lieb set a couple of great screens in his limited court time.

Luke Goode just keeps getting better the longer this season goes. He’s playing with poise and composure and maturing right before our eyes. His confidence is infectious. He made 3 huge 3-pointers that in some ways were the difference in this ball game-we considered making Goode our #2 star! All he did was add 4 rebounds and 2 assists in his 28 minutes of action.

Concern - The coaches were working up a storm and kudos to them for pushing our guys & for bringing so much energy to the contest! However, the crowd appeared to be in a deep winter’s nap, and this was an early 6pm start…crowds can’t wait for the coaches to stand up and beg you to get into the game-the team needs you to be in a frenzy at all times. The end of the game should teach us all that. But a win is a win and just what the Illini needed!

Next up for Illinois is a road trip to Evanston, IL for a Saturday contest versus Northwestern.

[By JEFF MAYFIELD]

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