After four days of rest following a dramatic win over Iowa to clinch a share of the Big Ten regular season title, the Illini faced the Hoosiers in their first game of the Big Ten Tournament, just one day after Indiana came back to defeat Michigan in its first game.

Though the Illini were rested, they were facing a Hoosier team that shot well the day before and had lots of momentum coming in. The game was back-and-forth for all 40 minutes, but the Illini came up just short, falling 65-63.

Fifth-year senior guard Trent Frazier and graduate student guard Alfonso Plummer began the game by hitting back-to-back threes, but Indiana always had an answer. The Illini led by two points at half, and at no point Friday morning did either team have a lead greater than six.

In the end, a bad Frazier turnover and a missed, contested layup by sophomore guard Andre Curbelo allowed Indiana to stay ahead and advance to the conference semifinals.

Doing the simple things.

Illinois lost the game by two points, fair and square. The officiating was good, there weren’t any 50/50 calls that didn’t go Illinois’ way, and Indiana came to play.

But the Illini beat themselves on Friday.

Between shooting 65% from the charity stripe, missing double-digit layups, botching one of their dunk attempts and a usual sharpshooter missing 10 shots, Illinois missed countless opportunities to pull ahead. It isn’t unfair to think that the Illini could have won by double digits had they done the little things well against a very well-coached, great defensive Indiana team.

Illinois won’t win a game in the NCAA tournament if they can’t even do the simple things right. I’m very disappointed that for as veteran as the Illini are, they struggled so much to do the little things right.

TJD

I wrote very recently that junior center Kofi Cockburn had only been beaten badly in the post when he was on defense once this year, which came in Illinois’ first game against Purdue and Zach Edey. Cockburn defended Indiana’s Trayce-Jackson Davis well back in February, but TJD became the second big man all year to score efficiently on Kofi.

The Hoosier center scored 21 points on 9-13 shooting on Friday morning. He was able to score inside with both hands, showing off his skilled footwork and got to the rim from outside the block as well.

It was impressive on TJD’s end, but Kofi gave him his dominant, left hand too many times and I was disappointed in his inability to adjust. Between the pick and roll and inside defense from him, I thought Kofi had one of his worst defensive games of the year.

 The Illini as a whole played well defensively. Allowing 65 points wasn’t the reason they lost. Time for some player grades.

Coleman Hawkins: A

Sophomore forward Coleman Hawkins’ play against Indiana was easily the best thing I saw on Friday. He didn’t shoot the ball great from the free throw line, going 4-7, but everything else was very good.

He hit four humongous threes, rebounded well, had two steals and played nice defense. He was Illinois’ second leading scorer with 18 points.

I’m so proud of Coleman. From playing less than 10 minutes a game for a portion of the season to starting, playing hard and making a huge difference, he couldn’t have had a better turnaround. He’ll be huge for the Illini if they make a run in the tournament.

Kofi Cockburn: A-

As I wrote before, I’m disappointed in him defensively. He let TJD use his left hand and looked a little too slow to stay with him at some points. He also committed a dumb foul which gave the Hoosiers the lead for good. However, his offense was an A+.

Kofi scored a game-high 23 points, was efficient from the field and made seven of his eight free throws, two of which were to take the lead with under a minute to go. Calm, cool and collected in a big moment.

He handled the Indiana defense and was the reason Illinois had a shot to win it late. He’ll likely be a mismatch nightmare for whoever the Illini are faced with early in the NCAA tournament.

Alfonso Plummer: D-

Arguably Plummer’s worst game of the season, the transfer guard shot 2/12 from the field, finishing with only six points, two rebounds and one assists in 34 minutes.

He took good shots, but was unable to hit in the second half and seemed to have lost confidence late, not taking a shot in the final six minutes. One shot he didn’t take resulted in a shot clock violation late in the second half.

Plummer has the ability to carry Illinois to a win in the NCAA tournament, but if he doesn’t find his groove offensively, he isn’t productive on the court. The Illini hope he bounces back fast.

Trent Frazier: C

Frazier scored 11 points with six assists in Friday’s win, playing a good first half, but his offense didn’t translate in the second.

He played nice defense on Indiana guard Xavier Johnson, forcing a lot of tough shots, which kept him productive. However, Frazier barely shot the ball late in the second half and committed the most costly turnover of the game when he threw the ball out of bounds with under 15 seconds to go.

He was good, but not great. Illinois needed a guard to step up, especially with Plummer shooting poorly, and Trent didn’t do that. He’s struggled to shoot the three-ball efficiently as of late, and needs to turn it around for the NCAA tournament.

Andre Curbelo: B-

Curbelo had 5 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists while shooting 1-7 from the field and 3-7 from the charity stripe. This may be a hot take, but I still think the Illini were better with sophomore guard on the floor.

He was good defensively, picking up a block and a steal, and passed the ball better than anyone on the floor. He created motion and got guys, like Coleman Hawkins, open for good shots.

He missed the contested layup late, one of four missed layups for him on the day, and people will rip on him for that. But Curbelo creates an offensive look that Illinois doesn’t have without him and I think he’s finding his groove for the tournament.

There were high expectations for him coming into the year, but he missed lots of time with a concussion-related injury and has practiced far less than his teammates. I still think he can help lead Illinois to a run later this month.

Da’Monte Williams: D

The fifth-year senior guard had zero points on zero shot attempts. He passed up open looks and was barely on the court late due to his lack of offense.

His defense was pretty good, as he grabbed six rebounds and covered Indiana’s non-stars well, but a play that sticks out to me is when he allowed Race Thompson to take a decent looking three, which he made, late in the shot clock when a better contest would have prevented that.

Part of the reason Illinois won the conference tournament championship last year is because Williams hit two big threes late, and the Illini surely could have used that against Indiana.

Omar Payne: F

In seven minutes, junior forward Omar Payne had one rebound, one block, picked up three fouls and missed a relatively easy dunk attempt.

Final note:

I don’t think head coach Brad Underwood coached a bad game. I think this veteran team should be ready, after some rest, to do the little things right, stay calm late and win a game they should have.

Now, they have extra time to prepare for the NCAA tournament and to get their heads right to hopefully get to at least the second weekend.

@JPietsch14

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