CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) – Freshman Kofi Cockburn scored 23 points and the Fighting Illini nearly erased a 27-point deficit before falling to Miami, 81-79, Monday night in the B1G/ACC Challenge.
Illinois (6-2) trailed 50-31 at the half — at one point down by 27 points (45-18) — and was outplayed by Miami (5-3) before making adjustments and outscoring the Hurricanes 48-31 in the second half.
"In the first half, we were hitting on all cylinders," said Miami coach Jim Larranaga. "But we started to get into foul trouble and had to make some adjustments. They also shot very well in that second half."
Chris Lykes scored 28 points for Miami, Dejan Vasiljevic scored 20 points, Kameron McGusty 13 and Sam Waardenburg 12.
Cockburn scored 23 points to lead Illinois. Trent Frazier scored 14, Ayo Dosunmu had 12 and Andre Feliz added 11 points for the Illini.
The Hurricanes put together a series of runs in the first half and jumped out to a 25-9 lead with 12 minutes left before the break. Illinois answered late in the half with a 7-0 run that featured a 3-pointer from Alan Griffin, a layup by Dosunmu and a jumper by Da'Monte Williams.
"We started slow and they were really hitting their shots," Feliz said. "They're a tough team, and we just weren't with it tonight. We have to get better."
After clawing its way back, Illinois had a chance to win it at the buzzer. Feliz hit a layup with less than a minute to play to pull the Illini to within one point, 80-79. With two seconds left and a chance to win the game, Dosunmu drove to the basket and was called for an offensive foul. That sent Lykes to the line, where he sank one free throw to ice the game.
"To be down by as many as 27 points and to have the ball in our hands with a chance to win it, that's really something," Illinois coach Brad Underwood said. "I'm very proud of the effort we made in that second half."
But Underwood knows his team has to play better early in the game, a trend for the Illini this season.
"That's on me," he said. "I did a very poor job of getting our guys ready. We'll get better."
Larranaga knew coming in his team would have problems with Cockburn, Illinois' 7-foot freshman center.
"Kofi is big and strong and he's really hard to guard one-on-one," Larranaga said. "So, we made some changes going in and double teamed him, what we call our 4-5 trap. It was pretty effective."
"I thought Kofi was huge tonight," said Illinois teammate Giorgi Bezhanishvili. "He's just dominating out there, and I am so happy for him."
UP NEXT
The Illini open Big Ten player with a trip to No. 3 Maryland on Saturday, Dec. 7, before returning home to host No. 4 Michigan on Wednesday, Dec. 11.
TEAM NOTES
• Illinois trailed by as many as 27 points in the first half (45-18) and was down 19 at the half (50-31) before stroming back to within one in the final seconds (80-79). The comeback stalled when Ayo Dosunmu was called for an offensive foul with 2.7 seconds left.
• Illinois shot 11-25 (44.0%) in the first half and 17-28 (60.7%) in the second half.
• Illinois outrebounded Miami 19-9 in the second half. Offensive rebounds were 6-2 Illinois in the second half, leading to eight second-chance points.
• The game opened the 21st annual Big Ten/ACC Challenge. Illinois is now 8-13 in Challenge games.
PLAYER NOTES
• Junior guard Trent Frazier's 4-5 night from the three-point line marked the best three-point percentage of his career when taking five or more threes.
• Freshman center Kofi Cockburn tied a career high with 23 points, hitting 8-of-8 from the field and 7-of-8 from the line.
• Cockburn is the first Illini with 20+ points on 8+ field goals made while shooting 100% since at least 2010-11. Furman's Noah Gurley (25 points, 10-10 shooting vs. Southern Wesleyan) and Arizona's Zeke Nnaji (26 points, 8-8 shooting vs. San Jose State) are the only other Division I players with such games this season.
