By Nathan DeHaan
Once again this season, Illini fans relied on Ayo Dosunmu in the late moments of a Big Ten game on Sunday afternoon and once again the Sophomore guard came through, hitting a big three pointer late and two clutch free throws with four seconds to go to lead Illinois (20-9) to a 67-66 win over longtime rival Indiana (18-11).
Sunday’s game was back-and-forth the whole way with no team gaining a larger lead than when Illinois went up seven on a Kofi Cockburn shot with 4:55 left to go. Indiana quickly fought back to make it a two point game thanks to a Trayce Jackson-Davis layup and a Devonte Green three. The game was going to come down to which team made one big play.
That play came after Jackson-Davis missed two free throws, Indiana’s first misses from the line on the day, and Indiana’s Rob Phinisee got the rebound. Phinisee then took that ball out and set up Indiana’s offense, before tripping and losing control of the ball. Illinois’ Andres Feliz dove on the floor in a heads up play and Trent Frazier quickly called a timeout for Illinois, giving the Illini the ball back up 2 with just 6 seconds left.
In the postgame press conference, Illini Head Coach Brad Underwood had one word to describe Senior guard Andres Feliz.
“Winner.”
Dosunmu finished the job for Illinois, going 2-for-2 from the line and making a last second Phinisee 3 pointer irrelevant except for anyone that bet the under. Dosunmu ended as the game’s leading scorer with 17 points.
Feliz added 15 points and Freshmen Center Kofi Cockburn also had 15 as well as a career-high 6 blocks. After the game Underwood talked about how excited Cockburn’s performance made him.
“You forget that he is a kid sometimes. His physical tools make it fun to go to work everyday,” Underwood lamented.
The Illini have now won four straight Big Ten games and are tied for 2nd in the Big Ten Conference with 2 games to play. Their final games of the regular season are Thursday at Ohio State and Sunday at home against Iowa.
