There is no hotter, and perhaps more dangerous, team in America now than Illinois. This is true thanks to his masked savior, Ayo Dosunmu, who returned on Saturday and once again became the Late-Game Hero to help No. 4 Illinois win a 73-68 victory at No. 7 Ohio State.
One of the most tired clichés of March is nobody wants to see this team in the NCAA tournament. However, it is commonplace, but true when it comes to this team. Illinois is as locked up as anyone at the moment. Yes, Gonzaga, who is at the top of the ranking, is still undefeated, but has not had to play anything other than WCC teams for months. At number 3, Baylor appears to be returning to elite form, but was convincingly defeated a week ago in Kansas, after almost being defeated by the state of Iowa. Michigan? The ten champions (in a technical detail, Illinois will remind you) were just gutted a few nights ago by the Illini – who didn’t even have Dosunmu in that game.
Illinois It is the danger zone. Brad Underwood’s team is rolling positively in the postseason, boasting an 11-1 record since January 16. Fresh out of perhaps the most impressive win of the season for any team – a 76-53 mutilation in No. 2 Michigan Tuesday without Dosunmu – the end of Saturday’s regular season was made by pulling a rug over the poor Buckeyes, who have now lost four in a row. Illinois kicked off another end-of-game rally, going in a 9-0 race to close it and not allowing OSU to score in the last 3:48. In that run in Illinois, it was Dosunmu who again appeared to save the day.
“My job is really easy when you have guys like that,” said Underwood. “People need to understand how good a player he is and how great he is, and not just score points. It’s everything else.”
Dosunmu scored six of Illinois’s last nine points and finished with 19 points (7 out of 10 on the field), four rebounds and three assists after three away games due to a broken nose and a concussion. Dosunmu’s nose is still broken, meaning he will wear a mask for the rest of the season. Call it “Domino Dosunmu”. College basketball masked superhero.
“Any great player cannot do this alone,” said Dosunmu after the victory.
This is true, but Dosunmu comes as close as anyone in college basketball to minimizing that maxim. Freshman Andre Curbelo equaled Dosunmu’s exit (19 points), and pivot Kofi Cockburn added 12 points and six bags. With Dosunmu back, Illinois looks strong in the national championship. He brings a je ne sais quoi to the table that is unmatched this season by any other player. Without him, Illinois will not win on Saturday. That seems clear. He changes the calculation for his team, for the Big Ten, to any corner of the key that Illinois ends up in.
On Saturday, it was the team’s third consecutive victory against a qualified opponent. The school has not done this since 1999. It has also been two consecutive matches against the teams in the top ten. The last time Illinois won two consecutive teams against the top ten, the year was 2005. The stage was the NCAA Tournament. Arizona and Louisville were the victims, and Illinois legends Deron Williams, Luther Head and Dee Brown were on their way to participating in the national title game and in the 37-2 season.
This season, Illinois is 16-4 in the best league. This winning total is a record for the Big Ten school, breaking the 15-win mark in 1984 and 2005. Underwood’s team also has three road wins against the top 10 opponents.
However, for this team, it is still not enough.
“With this victory, we believe we are champions of the Big Ten,” said Dosunmu, referring to Michigan receiving the Big Ten title, despite ending with 16 league games against 19. Illinois has 16 league wins, while Michigan can reach the top with 15 if you beat Michigan State on Sunday on CBS. Michigan’s top winning percentage (from playing three games less) gives the Wolverines the title of the regular season and the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten Tournament.
All of this is more fuel for Illinois towards the postseason. This will be the second most rabid seed in a conference tournament next week. It is almost inconceivable to be the # 1 seed projected at the NCAA Tournament, but still have a legitimate chip on your shoulder, but Illinois can do that.
“I know we won 16 games and played all 20,” said Underwood. “We all knew it would be a unique situation with an unbalanced schedule in terms of not playing all the games, but I know that, nobody won more games than us and we played them all.”
It is a group ready to win a national title. If that happens it is a huge task, but a Dosunmu, Cockburn and Co. will be ready to. Illinois’ 29 league wins between last season and this season is the highest year-over-year total in the school’s history, even better than the 2003-05 teams.
Dosunmu is still trailing Luke Garza of Iowa as National Player of the Year, but his averages of 20.9 points, 6.2 rebounds and 5.2 assists should be considered. If Dosunmu manages to keep those numbers high – and there is nothing to suggest that he won’t – then he will be the first player in 11 years in all college basketball to end a season averaging at least 20/6/5. And he will probably do that for a team on line 1.
“That’s exactly what I came back for – and more,” said Dosunmu. “I wanted to go back and cement my name with my teammates in Illinois basketball history and college basketball history.”
The man has a broken nose. He will play and wear a domino in the process. I wish Dosunmu the quickest and healthiest of recoveries.
So, with that said: we will have the best college basketball close-up by swinging the toughest mask you have ever seen in the NCAA tournament for a likely number one seed. It must be phenomenal.