The Fighting Illini dropped the first game of the Hall of Fame Classic on Monday night, falling 71-51 to Cincinnati. Illinois center Kofi Cockburn played for the first time this season and scored a team-high 18 points.
Despite a dominant start to the game, Illinois fell behind late in the first half and never found its way back, shooting just 19.2% from the field in the second half.
"There's no doubt we were off-kilter on the offensive side and we're not playing with any confidence. We're fumbling the ball, we're not screening, our ability to be assignment-sound is not very good. We haven't had everybody and again I thought we got off to a good start, but give Cincinnati a ton of credit. They played harder than we did which is very unacceptable for me to stomach. They were the more physical team and give them a lot of credit." head coach Brad Underwood said. "We've been number 2 in the country or number 1 in the country defensively and we were fine for eight minutes then all of a sudden we forget what it's like to play on that end."
Kofi Cockburn's return was evident early, as the Illini big man scored the first six points of the game with a short jumper, a dunk and a pair of free throws. Andre Curbelo fed off the energy and went on a personal 8-0 run, putting Illinois up 17-4 in the first six minutes.
With the help of a couple assists from Curbelo, Cockburn added another six points before the midway point of the half.
Then, Cincinnati started to counter. The Bearcats went on a 13-1 run in the next five minutes to cut the Illini's lead to two. Cincinnati junior Jeremiah Davenport got going during the run, scoring five quick points before a Coleman Hawkins dunk pushed Illinois' lead further.
But at the end of the half, the Bearcats took control, going on a 13-3 run to take a 34-31 lead at halftime. In the final three minutes, Cincinnati's defense held strong, forcing three Illini turnovers while slowing down Cockburn.
Cincinnati's defense came out even tougher in the second half. While Cockburn and Curbelo each added two points in the beginning minutes, the Bearcats used a 17-1 run through eight minutes to widen their lead. Cockburn finally ended the run with a layup, but Cincinnati put up another six points to reach its largest lead of the night, 61-38.
"Everybody's got to do their job. We're not connected, we're not spraying the ball off dribble drives, we're not spraying the ball and moving it offensively. It's gonna be a tough night for us when Trent and Belo have tough shooting nights like they've had and it really effects our wings as well" head coach Brad Underwood said.
While RJ Melendez and Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk brought some energy off the bench, it wasn't enough to counter the Bearcats' series of runs. Illinois had another seven turnovers in the second half and was out-rebounded for the first time this season.
The Illini return to action tomorrow evening and will play the loser of Arkansas and Kansas State who play tonight. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT and will be broadcasted on ESPNEWS.
