By Alex Burr | @alexburr4
Sports Capital Journalism Program
INDIANAPOLIS — With just over 12 minutes left in the second half of their first round game, Andre Curbelo and Kofi Cockburn of Illinois ran a pick and roll at the top of the key. The 7-foot Cockburn was able to maneuver himself to the rim with no interference, putting down an emphatic dunk that made the majority-Illinois crowd roar with 12:03 left, put the Fighting Illini up by 30 on the Drexel Dragons and effectively ended the game for good.
The No. 1-seed Fighting Illini drubbed the 16th-seeded Dragons (12-8) at Indiana Farmers Coliseum to advance to the second round for the first time since the 2005 season, in a 78-49 contest that was only close for a few minutes in the first half. Cockburn was dominant, scoring 18 points on 11 shots in 20 minutes to go along with two blocks. Consensus First Team All-American Ayo Dosunmu chipped in 17 points to go along with 11 rebounds and six assists.
Illinois (24-6) will meet Loyola Chicago in the second round on Sunday. The first half started relatively close, with Drexel (12-8) having a 8-7 lead at the 14:06 mark of the first half. From there, however, Illinois out-scored the Dragons with a 31-14 run to end the first half, and things got uglier in the second half. For the game, the Illini held the Dragons to 30.6% shooting from the field, and the Dragons only mustered four trips to the foul line.
Illinois coach Brad Underwood attributed to the slow start of the game to nerves, saying that his team was rushing on the offensive end before breaking the game open. “(Drexel) stayed in it in the first half with offensive rebounding and James Butler had four offensive rebounds,” Underwood said. “We started settling in and limiting them to four shots, and got out running.”
The Illini held Colonial Athletic Association tournament Most Valuable Player Camren Winter to 3 of 13 shooting and six points. Shutting him down was a major point of emphasis coming into the game, according to both Cockburn and Underwood. Cockburn stated that the team’s goal was to help more from the ball screens that Wynter was receiving and making sure he did not score. “Just about making sure (Wynter) doesn’t beat us,” Cockburn said. “He’s a really good player, and a really talented scorer. It’s just about putting a hand up and making sure he doesn’t score.”
The Illini had a balanced attack, with Cockburn scoring 18, Dosunmu 17, Trent Frazier 11 and Adam Miller 10. Curbelo and Jacob Grandison pitched in 8 points as well. When asked if the team was trending towards a balanced scoring attack, Cockburn said the team had been playing that way all year. “We have really unselfish players and elevate each other,” Cockburn said. “It’s just about playing the game. We have really good players, we have winners on the team.”
Underwood also loved the balanced scoring, saying that with his team you have to use a pick-your-poison approach. “You can’t load up on Ayo, on Kofi, say we’re going to double team or we’re going to do this,” Underwood said. “These guys are very dependable scorers. Da’Monte (Williams) is one of the leading three-point shooters in America. Jake is an explosive player in his own right. You throw in Adam and Trent, all of a sudden it becomes a pretty balanced attack.”
When asked what the biggest thing he can take away for next year, Drexel coach Zach Spiker said the biggest takeaway is how well the team played to get to its first NCAA Tournament in 25 years. “We’ll look back on those days very fondly about what we were able to accomplish,” Spiker said. “Certainly hopeful. Had a great week. Great experience. Certainly didn’t expect this type of result. We just wanted to fight and put ourselves in position.”
