The Ayo & Kofi Show Lead Illini Past Indiana 67-66

Illinois duo of Ayo Dosunmu and Kofi Cockburn allow Illini to survive a 67-66 win over Indiana in Champaign.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- The formula certainly isn’t a complicated one for Illinois basketball.

The philosophy Illini used in its first win was similar to how they found their 20th victory of the 2019-20 season as they escaped with a 67-66 win over Indiana: Feed Kofi Cockburn and then let Ayo Dosunmu finish it off.

"I've been very blessed (over the last two years). I've had Ayo Dosunmu and Kofi,” Illinois head coach Brad Underwood said following the program’s first 20-win season since 2013. “I don't ever expect that much from freshmen."

Dosunmu hit a crossover three-pointer to put Illinois up five with 90 seconds left and the sophomore guard threw his arms in the air to hear the ovation from a sold-out State Farm Center crowd.

“I’m pretty sure all hoopers around the world envision a moment like that,” Dosunmu said. “I like the ice in the veins (move) when the passion is so large and the crowd is so loud, it just goes to emotion.”

The battle for the Big Ten Conference Freshman of the Year honors was highlighted by Cockburn getting 12 second-half points including a perfect 6 of 6 from the foul line. On the other side of the equation, Trayce Jackson-Davis missed both free throws in a tie game with 13 seconds left to allow Illinois to secure its 14th home win of this turnaround season.

Dosunmu ended with a team-high 17 points including two free throws at the end of the game. Cockburn had 15 points, six blocks and five rebounds in 35 minutes.

“Coach has challenged me to come over and challenge every shot,” Cockburn said. “No disrespect to their players but most of the time I was guarding non-shooters so I needed to have one foot in the paint at all times to block shots.”

Jackson-Davis finished with 12 points but just two points in the final 20 minutes and the Hoosiers (18-11, 8-10 in Big Ten) struggled to find the impressive freshman in the late-game possessions. Andres Feliz, who finished with 15 points and four assists, clinched the game with his fourth steal as he took the ball away near the far sideline as the Hoosiers were hectic in trying to get a perimeter shot.

Indiana head coach Archie Miller, who has seen his team lose eight of 10 games on the road this season, took only three and a half minutes to describe the Hoosiers’ woes outside of Bloomington.

“Your commitment on the road has to be better,” Miller said. “You have to have the attitude of you just don't give a (expletive) about nothing. We're not good enough to knock somebody on their ass in the first 10 minutes of a road game. We just stop worrying about where you're playing."

Illinois Fighting Illini center Kofi Cockburn (21) goes up for a shot against Indiana Hoosiers forward Jerome Hunter (21) during the second half at State Farm Center :: Patrick Gorski/USA TODAY Sports

Cockburn had 12 points and game-high 14 rebounds at Northwestern Thursday night to tally his third double-double in the last five games, and 12th of the season. Underwood admittedly said his 7-foot, 290-pound center “wasn’t very good” in the first 20 minutes when he had just three points, two rebounds and was 1 of 4 from the charity stripe.

“I think Jackson-Davis dominated the first half and Kofi evened it out a little bit after halftime,” Underwood said. “It's a great feeling when you get the ball to the front of the rim and you know (Cockburn) will make free throws or he's going to score. He’s yelling at coaches ‘feed me and I’ll get fouled and make the shots’ so that’s what we did."

Illinois will now play in a road game for the final time this season as they travel to No. 23 Ohio State on March 5 for a 6 p.m. on ESPN before the regular season final vs. Iowa tips at March 8 on 6 p.m. on BTN.