On Friday night, Illinois got their fourth win against the University of Texas Rio-Grande Valley (UTRV) by a score of 94-85 at State Farm Center.
Illinois had three players -- Andre Curbelo (undisclosed), Trent Frazier (knee) and Jacob Grandison (illness) -- all miss the game. Utah transfer Alfonso Plummer and junior All-American Kofi Cockburn led the way for the Fighting Illini finishing with 30 points and 38 points, respectively.
Illinois defense was particularly bad on Friday night. Early in the game UTRGV, with three UTRGV players finishing in double figures -- Justin Johnson (28), Ricky "Doc" Nelson (15) and Marek Nelson (23) -- led the way for UTRGV.
Illinois now moves to 4-2 on the season with their next game on Monday night at State Farm Center against Notre Dame (3-2) in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge
Defensive issues becoming a concern
Illinois struggled defensively against Marquette in their first loss of the season and they weren't very good defensively against Cincinnati or Kansas State in the Hall of Fame Classic on Monday and Tuesday of this week.
The defense really struggled early in the second half against UTRGV, allowing buckets on each of their first seven possessions of the second half. The defense did improve a little bit as the second half continued, but a couple of Illini -- Alfonso Plummer and Austin Hutcherson in particular -- struggled to defend off the dribble.
Sophomore Coleman Hawkins saw his minutes slashed in the first half because of a lack of defense in favor of Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk. The Belgian gave Illinois consistent effort of the defensive end and a few good passes (six assists on the night) but didn't provide much of a scoring punch in replacement of Hawkins.
Plummer stays hot
After making seven threes against Kansas State on Tuesday in Illini's second game of the Hall of Fame Classic, Alfonso Plummer stayed hot from behind the three-point line. Plummer came out and hit his first two three-point attempts and stayed hot from three throughout the game. The Utah transfer ended up making 6-of-11 from deep, which greatly contributed to his 30 points on the night. It was the second 30 point game of his career.
Plummer was really the only Illini guard who offered much of a scoring punch in the absence of Trent Frazier and Andre Curbelo. With Plummer heating up from behind the three-point line, Illinois has become more difficult to defend. Now, they just need to get Plummer to be a better defender, which is something he has struggled with throughout his entire college career.
Kofi Cockburn carrying the offense
Junior All-American Kofi Cockburn finished with 38points on the night on 15-of-19 shooting from the field with 8-of-11 free throws on Friday night. Cockburn has shown an improved ability to make shots at the rim with significantly better footwork around the rim than previously showcased in his Illinois career.
Arguably most impressive though is that Cockburn has shown a more efficient offensive game by passing out of difficult double-teams in the paint. Cockburn had just one assist on the night, but his ability to pass out of the post is something that makes Illinois much more difficult to defend, and it's something that Cockburn simply didn't do enough of -- or at all -- last season.
Goode comes up huge
Freshman Luke Goode played 18 minutes on Friday night and scored five points with three rebounds and a single assist, so not the greatest impact on the numbers category but Goode was huge for the Illini. He provided some great minutes on the defensive end and didn't make any mistakes offensively, which is something that can't be said for many freshmen.
Goode plays with a really high IQ and his leadership qualities are already coming through. When Da'Monte Williams picked up his fifth foul with 1:57 left, it was Goode who walked over and picked his chin up and gave words of encouragement. That's good to see from a freshman who has played in just six games in his career.
