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Illinois basketball took No. 11 Arizona all the way to the end before falling to the undefeated Wildcats, 83-79 on Saturday evening. The teams traded the lead several times in front of a sold-out State Farm Center, but Arizona's strong second-half shooting held Illinois.
"We had a chance and we just didn't execute. But there's a lot of things to grow on," head coach Brad Underwood said. "I think our guys understand now what big boy basketball truly is, because they're really good. We can go back because it's early December, we're still 2-0 in league, and we can figure out what we've got to continue to work on to get better. We're going to be a really good basketball team, but we've got to get better defensively. Our transition defense was horrific. You add transition, points in the paint and our ability to not get a stop late, those are things we've got to get dialed in on."
Bennedict Mathurin, Arizona's top scorer, put up 30 points with five threes while Kriisa Kerr added 19. The Wildcats narrowly won the rebounding battle, putting up over half of their points in the paint.
Trent Frazier had a season-high 27 points and Alfonso Plummer had 25, with each of the guarding hitting six three-pointers. Only two other Illini scored on Saturday night as Jacob Grandison and Kofi Cockburn put up 14 and 13 points, respectively. While Cockburn notched another double-double, he shot just 33% from the field as the Wildcats routinely double-teamed him with their plethora of size.
"We've got to do a better job of helping Kofi get it in positions that he can score. He doesn't see a lot of that type of length and athleticism," Underwood said. "I mean they went three or four times in a row where they just blocked him. We've got to help Kofi. Kofi's had a little bit of a bone bruise on hia knee. We've got help get him back in better shape, but he's playing a lot of minutes and he's playing physical."
Illinois brought Arizona its biggest challenge yet, as the Wildcats allowed the most points this season. They previously held opponents to just 59.5 points per game.
Arizona had a quick start to the game as Azuolas Tubelis made the first basket of the game and Bennedict Mathurin hit a couple threes. Plummer got the Illini on the board early with his own three-pointer, but a three minute scoring drought with three turnovers ensued.
A dunk from Kofi Cockburn ended the drought, but the Wildcats fired back with a dunk, giving them their biggest lead of the half at 12-5.
While Arizona had made three of their last three shots, Plummer and Jacob Grandison each made treys to close the gap. Plummer and Mathurin traded layups before Plummer made a sideline jumper and drew the foul. His free throw brought Illinois within three and marked his 11th point through just eight minutes.
But a couple Arizona shots later and the Wildcats regained a six-point lead. Then, Frazier put the Illini on his back and shook the entire State Farm Center.
In under two minutes, Frazier nailed a three, hit a short jumper, then drilled back-to-back threes, putting Illinois up five. With all of the momentum on Illinois' side, Cockburn continued the run with a layup and a block while Arizona hadn't scored in three minutes.
The Wildcats were held scoreless for another minute as Plummer drained another three and Frazier stole the ball, leading to an and-1 under the hoop. Frazier made his free throw and the Illini completed a 19-0 run with a 37-24 lead, their biggest of the half.
Mathurin ended the scoring drought with a steal and a three-point play. He followed that up with back-to-back jumpers and a pair of free throws from a technical foul. Arizona kept possession after the technical and dunked the ball, shrinking Illinois' lead to 37-34.
Frazier continued to punish the Wildcats, hitting a jumper then taking a charge. On the following possession, Plummer skipped the ball to Grandison who knocked dow a trey. Arizona scored four quick points before the half, but Illinois kept a 42-38 lead going into the break.
After struggling on offense early, Illinois flipped the script, shooting 45% from the field in the first half. The Wildcats were held to 38% shooting. Mathurin led scorers with 17 points, but Frazier added 16 of his own while Plummer had 14.
Mathurin opened the half with his fourth three-pointer of the game then a pair of Arizona free throws put Illinois behind one point. Frazier answered quickly with a trey and a pair of free throws to regain a four-point lead.
The team traded a pair of shots before the Wildcats took charge and went on a 12-0 run to take a 57-50 lead. While Arizona hit three deep balls and a layup, Illinois suffered a three-minute scoring drought, missing its last four shots.
Grandison ended the run with a corner three, but Arizona hit a jumper on the next trip down the floor. While Frazier added his fifth trey of the night, an Arizona layup kept the Wildcats ahead by five.
Then after having a quiet start to the half, Plummer came alive for eight straight points, putting Illinois up by three. Arizona's offense continued to challenge Illinois as Kriisa Kerr put up six consecutive points.
Cockburn added a quick five straight points before the Wildcats got back on a heater, with a 6-0 run. Plummer followed it up with his sixth three-pointer, but an Arizona layup kept the Wildcats up 75-72 with under four minutes to play.
A Grandison floater and a pair of free throws from Cockburn were matched by two Arizona layups with just over a minute to play.
The Illini brought it down to the wire, but they missed a couple late shots and had a crucial turnover while the Wildcats were solid from the free throw line.
"Around finals week we're going to grind. We've got to get better," Underwood said. "We've got to have 5-on-5 smash mouth, tough, consequence basketball. That's the reality of it. There's gotta be consequences for turning the ball over, for not executing, not catching the ball in your spot. And we haven't done that."
Illinois has a week off before returning to State Farm Center to host Saint Francis next Saturday, Dec. 18 at 12 p.m. CT.
POSTGAME NOTES
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Illinois saw its five-game winning streak snapped, and also its 10-game homecourt win streak ended.
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Illinois made 16 three-pointers, one shy of the school-record 17 treys set in last season's opener vs. North Carolina A&T (Nov. 25, 2020).
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Trent Frazier led the Illini with a season-high 27 points. It was his most points in a game since his sophomore season, when he scored 30 at Minnesota (Jan. 30, 2019).
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Frazier made six 3-pointers for the second time this season (at Marquette, Nov. 15).
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Alfonso Plummer had 25 points, extending his streak of 20+ point games to six straight.
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Plummer is the first Illini with six consecutive 20-point games since Brian Cook during the 2002-03 season (Dec. 28, 2002-Jan. 15, 2003).
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Plummer also drained six 3-pointers, his third game this season making at least six treys.
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Kofi Cockburn tallied his third straight double-double and fifth in seven games this season, recording 13 points and game-high 13 rebounds.
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Cockburn now has 33 career double-doubles, most in the nation among active players since 2019-20, and ranking sixth on the Illini career list.
