Dosunmu, Williams lead No. 8 Illinois over Ohio

Matthew Haufe
FightingIllini.com

The Fighting Illini defeated the Ohio Bobcats by a score of 77-75 behind an all-around performance from Ayo Dosunmu, Da'Monte Williams, and Kofi Cockburns third straight double-double.

The game was competitive throughout with 18 total lead changes. The two teams were also tied 12 different times throughout the game.

Ohio fouled Ayo Dosunmu with the Illini down by one with two seconds left on the clock, and Dosunmu converted both free throws to put the Illini ahead 76-75.

Ayo Dosunmu (27 points, 8 assists, 7 rebounds) had his third-straight 20-point performance for the first time in his career, and played solid defense to aid the Illini.

Da'Monte Williams set a new career-high 10 rebounds and recorded his first career double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Kofi Cockburn recorded his third straight double-double (13 points, 14 rebounds), his 15th in 34 career games at Illinois.

The Illini outrebounded Ohio by a margin of 45-25, grabbing 33 of those rebounds on defense to stop the Bobcats.

Ohio was led by Jason Preston (31 points, 8 assists, 6 rebounds), Ben Vander Plas (20 points, 2 assists, 5 rebounds), and Dwight Wilson (12 points, 2 assists, 8 rebounds).

1,000 CAREER POINTS

With 27 points today, Ayo Dosunmu surpassed 1,000 career points. He is the 51st player in school history to reach the milestone, and currently ranks 49th in the all-time scoring list behind Kendrick Nunn. 

DOMINANT START

The Illini went 3-0 in their Thanksgiving multi-team event, outscoring their opponents 296-173 during the three games played. The Illini held opponents to 37 percent from the field (68-183) and 29 percent from beyond the arc (18-62).

UP NEXT

The Illini travel to Indianapolis on Wednesday, December 2 to take on the No. 2 ranked Baylor Bears in the Jimmy V Classic. The game will tip off at 9 pm CT.

POSTGAME NOTES

• The Illini trailed by one with 7.4 to go when junior Ayo Dosunmu drove length of the court and was fouled on a layup attempt with 2.3 remaining, draining both free throws to put the Illini up 76-75.
• Senior Trent Frazier then sealed the win by stealing the Ohio inbounds pass, and, after a foul, hitting the first free throw with :0.5 seconds left before missing the second intentionally to run out the clock. 
• Dosunmu led the Illini in scoring for the third day in a row, finishing with 27 points.
• This marks the first time in Dosunmu's career that he has had three-straight 20-point outings. He averaged 25.7 points during the opening week of play. 
• In addition to his 27 points, Dosunmu dished out a game-high 8 assists and grabbed 7 boards.
• With his 10^th point of the game on a transition layup with 5:49 left in the first half, Dosunmu tallied his 1,000^th career point to become the 51st player in Illini history in the 1,000-career point club. 
• Dosunmu now ranks 49^th in program history with 1,017 career points.
• Senior Da'Monte Williams recorded his first career double-double with 11 points – including a clutch 3-pointer with 35 seconds left to put the Illini ahead 74-73 – and a career-high 10 rebounds.
• Sophomore Kofi Cockburn posted 13 points and 14 rebounds, tallying his 15th career double-double in his 34th career game.
• Freshman Adam Miller scored in double figures for the third-straight game, finishing with 11 points. He averaged 18 points in the opening week of his college career.
• Illinois outrebounded Ohio, 45-25, and has now outrebounded its first three opponents 162-53 for a +36.3 rebounding margin on the young season. The Illini are averaging 54 rebounds, while holding their opponents to 17.7 boards per game.
• Illinois made just 2 of its first 10 three-point attempts but got hot late, making 4 of its last 5 from behind the arc, including three straight treys in the final 6:07.
• With wins in each of the last three days, Illinois is off to a 3-0 start for the first time since the 2017-18 season (6-0).