Despite leading by as many as 18 points in the second half, the Illini struggled to keep a big lead but held on to defeat the Wildcats, 73-66.

Northwestern came back to cut Illinois’ lead to one point with 6:13 left to go, but big late-game plays by junior center Kofi Cockburn and some late free-throw shooting helped Illinois survive the upset bid.

The Illini were led by Cockburn and graduate student guard Alfonso Plummer, who each scored 19 points, and freshman guard RJ Melendez added 14 off the bench.

Ice-cold runs

Illinois ultimately got the win, but in the second half, Northwestern went on a 19-2 run to cut the Illinois lead all the way down to one.

Illinois missed several shots behind the arc, couldn’t get anything going inside and turned the ball over inside and out. Not one player looked engaged, and the defense was just as bad.

I thought sophomore guard Andre Curbelo would have helped more when Illinois goes on these droughts, but he did the opposite on Sunday, turning the ball over and not creating good offense. It was ugly all around.

If the Illini find themselves going on a brutal run like that in March, their season will more than likely end sooner than they wish. Someone will need to step up in those times, but that person is yet to be determined.

Let’s do some grades.

RJ Melendez: A+

Yup. The freshman, who hasn’t played in even half of a game all year, came up huge for his team. He scored 14 points and added six rebounds while playing great defense.

He hit two first-half threes, had a big dunk in the second half that got the crowd going crazy and hit each of his six free-throw attempts late in the game. Clutch.

Melendez was the only freshman to get minutes on Sunday, and he easily made the most of his time on the floor. He was only on the court for 17 minutes, but his efficiency was high and his team most likely wouldn’t have won without him. 

Kofi Cockburn: B+

Cockburn recorded the 41st double-double of his career in Sunday’s game, which is tied for the most in program history, doing so with 19 points and 15 boards. How could he not earn an A?

Well, he turned the ball over six times. That’s way too many. Credit to Northwestern coach Chris Collins for a solid plan on the big man, but if Cockburn wants to get drafted, he can’t be making bad decisions like he consistently did on Sunday.

He still scored the points that probably won Illinois the game, but it wasn’t Cockburn’s most impressive performance. He needs to learn from Sunday’s game for when he gets defended hard in the tournament.

Trent Frazier: C-

Really weird game for Frazier. He only scored seven points, which isn’t bad, but did so on just seven total shots. That’s low for him.

Frazier was injured in Illinois’ loss on Tuesday at Purdue, but he came back in the game and still started against Northwestern. He played 33 minutes. He still played very good defense, but he seemed hesitant at times to pull up.

Maybe he just didn’t see good shot options, and he didn’t shoot the best when he did, as he was 2-7, but Frazier usually keeps shooting no matter what. He hit two free throws late that helped extend Illinois’ lead, so he still made a nice impact down the stretch. 

Jacob Grandison: D-

I couldn’t decide between an F and a D-, but it felt unfair to give him the lowest possible grade after he made two free throws late to solidify the win, but everything else was pretty bad.

Grandison was 0-7 from the field, including three misses from behind the arc and turned the ball over three times. He did have six boards and four assists, too.

After seemingly getting out of his shooting slump a couple games before, Grandison cooled off again. And he was ice cold. 

Alfonso Plummer: B+

He tied for a game-high 19 points, which was awesome, but it all kind of happened at once. Plummer had 16 in the first half and struggled to get the ball in the basket in the second.

He ended up shooting 5-11 from three and 7-16 total, including two second-half air balls on questionable looks. He also missed two consecutive free throws late despite entering the game 61-66 from the line.

His first-half was an A+, but the second half was far from it. It’s very nice to have someone that shoots as well as Plummer can, and his ability to drive with the ball has improved, tooo. 

Da’Monte Williams: C

It was an unusual six-point, three-rebound, no assist night for the ultimate glue guy. He had no turnovers and played good defense, but he really struggled offensively.

He was 2-7 from three and 2-9 from the field altogether, as he just couldn’t get a shot to fall in the second half. I respect him for continuing to shoot open shots, but he just couldn’t get one to fall after two early threes.

It was just an abnormal game for Williams. I don’t think his positive or negative impact outweighed the other, so he earned an even grade.

Omar Payne: C+

I do really like Payne as a backup big man. He doesn’t take bad shots and consistently plays really good post-defense.

He played 10 minutes on Sunday, and his only shot was a lob slam in the second half, which is solid. He did get into first-half foul trouble, though.

He also had a turnover and only grabbed two boards, and he couldn’t get the ball down low for more than one comfortable shot. Still a good game for Payne.

Coleman Hawkins: C

Similar to Williams in that Hawkins didn’t necessarily impact the game positively or negatively more than the other. He had no points, three boards and three assists.

Part of the reason Coleman had no points is because he didn’t put up a shot. He didn’t even drive to the rim to try and draw a foul. He also had a turnover.

However, he had some nice passes for assists, brought good energy and his defense was good for the most part besides a couple of fouls. Better night for Hawkins, earning 13 minutes. 

Andre Curbelo: C-

Curbelo looked a lot on Sunday the way he did earlier this season. He turned the ball over four times, scored four points, had three boards and two assists. 

He made a great move in the first half and found Melendez in the corner for a three, but the turnovers were bad. And he gave up multiple 3-pointers on the other end and couldn’t stay in the game for long periods of time.

I hope he’s getting the turnovers out of his system now and that his defense will improve with his offense. Not Curbelo’s most memorable game. 

Final note

It wasn’t pretty, but good teams win when they don’t play well. Still, I’m concerned.

The scoring drought was bad, Illinois’ shooters are still inconsistent, and I didn’t like Cockburn’s inability to be productive in the middle 25 minutes of the game. 

Head coach Brad Underwood had one of his worst coaching games of the year, too, but that’s rare. The defense being that bad at times isn’t normal, so that was probably a fluke. 

Two tough games this week, at Rutgers and at Michigan State, so we’ll see if the Illini can bounce back from a mediocre performance in which they still won.

@JPietsch14

[email protected]