In the Big Ten season opener, Kofi Cockburn scored a career-high 33 points and led the No. 13 Fighting Illini (5-2, 1-0 Big Ten) to a 92-65 victory over the Minnesota Golden Gophers.
Ayo Dosunmu tallied 10 points and 7 rebounds, and Adam Miller added 14 points. Andre Curbelo led the team with 9 assists.
The Gophers (6-1, 0-1 Big Ten) were led by redshirt-junior Marcus Carr (16 points) and junior Liam Robbins (10 points).
The Illini were down 16-8 early, but followed with a 32-13 run to finish the first half with the lead. After the break, the Illini continued to pour it on with Kofi Cockburn scoring 11 points in the first eight minutes of the second half to put the game out of reach for the Gophers.
HARD IN THE PAINT
The Illini outscored the Gophers in the paint 48-14. This included the Illini holding Minnesota to zero points in the paint for the first 18:59 of the game, and held the Gophers to just two points in the paint in the first half.
DOUBLE-DIGIT SCORING
Illinois again had 4+ players in double-digit scoring, marking the fifth occurrence this season. In games where the Illini have 4+ players in double-digits, the Illini are 5-0.
UP NEXT
The Illini travel to Piscataway, NJ on Sunday, Dec. 20 to take on the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. Tipoff is scheduled for 12 PM CT and will be broadcasted on ESPN2 and the Busey Bank Illini Sports Network.
