The Illini are now 9-6 on the year in the Big Ten. Brad Underwood’s team snapped a 4 game skid last night in Happy Valley against #9 Penn State. Most of that credit goes to the superior defense that the Illini played throughout the game. But, there was one offensive performance that was hard to go unnoticed.
Ayo Dosunmu was a game-time decision last night, after that knee strain that he suffered in the one-point loss to Michigan State last week. Ayo’s absence from the Rutgers game last Saturday from The Rac was very noticeable. However, Ayo, the Illini Medical Staff, and the Coaching Staff determined that 11 was ready to go, and was he ever. Ayo had a massive game after taking the Rutgers game off, and Penn State didn’t prepare for him in the scout, that was apparent. He had 24 in the contest, Kofi had 14 and he did a great job cleaning up the glass last night.
Outside of the scoring outing that Ayo had, Feliz was the player that had the most impact on me. He flies around the court and grabs rebounds, and rips the ball away from guys that twice his size. Feliz also secured the game-winning rebound.
The Illini have a very favorable schedule left and have a massive opportunity to not only make the tournament but to win at minimum 12 games in the Big Ten, something that not even me would have predicted. Celebrate the win the rest of the week through the weekend, and hope that teams ahead of us drop a few games this weekend, and get back to work Monday night against Nebraska and protect home court.
