Two weeks. That’s it.
Illinois opens its exhibition schedule at Cincinnati on October 17, and we’re down to fourteen days. Yesterday gave us Giorgi, Don Freeman, Bruce Douglas, and an Arizona replay worth watching for approximately the one-millionth time.
Today, fourteen takes us from an honored jersey to a Big Ten championship celebration, with a whole lot of made threes in between. And we’ll finish with somebody we get to watch again very soon.
KOFI COCKBURN: FOURTEEN BOARDS AND A BIG TEN TITLE
March 6, 2022. Senior Night against Iowa.Illinois won 74–72 to claim a share of its first regular-season Big Ten championship since 2005.
Kofi finished with 21 points and 14 rebounds, and the Illini needed every bit of the work he did inside.
They also needed a comeback. Iowa led by as many as 15 before Illinois worked its way back, eventually leaving the whole thing to a final possession that nobody watching could enjoy until it was over.
Da’Monte Williams made the free throw that put Illinois ahead by two. Trent Frazier grabbed the last defensive rebound. Then the students poured onto the court.
Those two getting the last pieces of that win on Senior Night was so freaking sweet.
And there’s another fourteen tucked into the box score: Andre Curbelo scored 14 points. Kofi handled the big-man business, Curbelo supplied a little scoring lift, and Illinois finished the night with a championship to celebrate.
WALT KIRK: THE NO. 14 ABOVE THE COURT
Fourteen also gives us a reason to look up.
Walt Kirk’s honored jersey belongs in this conversation. In 1945, he was a consensus first-team All-American and a first-team All-Big Ten selection. He led Illinois in scoring, was the team’s MVP, and earned the university’s Athlete of the Year honor.
That’s quite a season to fit underneath one name on a banner.
His college career also had an interruption that puts basketball timelines in perspective. Kirk entered military service after the 1945 season, then returned to Illinois for his senior season in 1947.
He went on to play professionally and later coached high school basketball in Illinois and Iowa, spending years as a teacher and school administrator.
The countdown is a good excuse to spend a little time with players whose games aren’t sitting a click away on YouTube. Kirk earned his place up there. No. 14 gives us a day to talk about why.
FOURTEEN THREES: GONZAGA GOT THE EARLY WARNING
The Wake Forest game gets plenty of attention from the start of the 2004–05 season. That’s earned, but four days earlier, Illinois had put the nation on high alert with their game against Gonzaga.
On November 27, 2004, the fifth-ranked Illini beat No. 24 Gonzaga 89–72 at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Illinois made 14 of 28 from three, matching the school record at the time.
Fifty percent on twenty-eight attempts.
Deron Williams made five threes. Luther Head made four. Dee Brown made three. Rich McBride and Roger Powell supplied the other two.
Those three guards combined for 57 points and 20 assists with just two turnovers. The ball kept moving, the shots kept falling, and Gonzaga was down 58–27 at halftime.
The Arizona finish from yesterday is the replay you watch for the comeback. This is one you watch for the passing. Twenty assists and two turnovers from that backcourt tells you plenty before you even press play.
DAVID MIRKOVIC: FOURTEEN THEN, FOURTEEN AGAIN
Let’s bring this back to somebody on the current roster.
David Mirkovic introduced himself in the regular-season opener against Jackson State last November with 19 points, 14 rebounds, and four assists. He shot 7-for-10 from the field. That was his first official college game.
By March, he was putting up another number for today’s countdown on a much bigger stage.
Mirkovic scored 14 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in Illinois’ 65–55 Sweet 16 win over Houston on March 26. Houston was the No. 2 seed, playing in its own city, and Illinois held the Cougars to 55 points.
Mirkovic’s ten rebounds also pushed him past Kofi’s Illinois freshman record for total rebounds in a season. A little connection between our first stop today and our last.
Fourteen boards in the opener. Fourteen points in a Sweet 16 win. A freshman season that reached the Final Four. He wasn’t even the best freshman on the team!
Fourteen days until Cincinnati. Two weeks until we get to talk about new games again!!
What did I miss?