https://www.thetelegraph.com/sports/article/MEN-S-BASKETBALL-Dosunmu-making-it-look-easy-15838889.php
MEN'S BASKETBALL: Dosunmu making it look easy for Illini
Illinois guard offto a sizzling start
Matt Kamp For The Telegraph
Updated 9:31 am CST, Saturday, January 2, 2021
Illinois guard Ayo Dosunmu (11) powers past Indiana's guard Armaan Franklin (2) Saturday at State Farm Center in Champaign.
CHAMPAIGN – Illinois junior guard Ayo Dosunmu is making the spectacular look routine.
A preseason All-American, the 6-5, 200-pound Dosunmu is averaging 24.1 points, 7.2 rebounds and 5.2 assists this season and is coming off back-to-back 30-point performances against Penn State and Indiana that earned him Big Ten Player of the Week.
"Ayo is a really good player. I keep saying it and I'll keep saying it the rest of the year, that Ayo is the best guard in the country," Illini coach Brad Underwood said.
Dosunmu, who passed up the NBA to return to Illinois for "unfinished business," ranks fourth in the country in scoring – third among Power 5 schools – and 48th in assists. He's the only player in the country averaging at least 20 points, five rebounds and five assists.
Now, Dosunmu will face a tough challenge in Purdue (7-4, 2-2) when No. 15 Illinois (7-3, 3-1) plays host at 5 p.m. Saturday inside the State Farm Center.
In the last meeting between the two teams, the Boilermakers held Dosunmu to a season-low six points on 3-of-11 shooting on Jan. 5, 2020. In three career games against Purdue, Dosunmu is averaging 11 points on 15-of-42 shooting.
But this seems to be a different, more lethal Dosunmu this season, especially as of late.
Against Penn State on Dec. 23, Dosunmu scored 30 points on 9-of-18 shooting with six rebounds and five assists in the 98-81 win. It was the most points in a regulation Big Ten game for Illinois since a 99-57 win over Northwestern on March 8, 1995 and the most in a Big Ten road game since a 103-87 win at Indiana on March 3, 1971.
Dosunmu scored 21 points in the second half.
"I didn't see anything special or different from Ayo tonight. It was just Ayo being Ayo. He was doing his thing," Illinois junior forward Jacob Grandison said.
Dosunmu became the first player since Malcolm Hill to score 30 points with six rebounds and five assists in a Big Ten road game. Hill had 32 points, 14 rebounds and five assists in a triple-overtime game against Rutgers on Feb. 3, 2016. The last to do it in regulation was Ohio State's D'Angelo Russell with 33 points, seven rebounds and six assists against Northwestern on Jan. 22, 2015.
It was the well-rounded game that Underwood has become used to seeing from Dosunmu.
"He scores it in a lot of ways. When we got into the bonus early, it was going to be a steady dose of getting Ayo the ball because he can put pressure on the front of the rim," Underwood said. "He's rebounding it better than he ever has and he's guarding than he ever has. When we get Ayo locked in on the defensive end, he might be as good as I coached."
For an encore, Dosunmu scored 30 points on 11-of-17 shooting with five assists in the 69-60 win over Indiana on Dec. 26.
It was his third 30-point game of the season and he became the first Illini player since Kevin Turner on Dec. 30, 1997 (32 points at UCLA) and Jan. 3, 1998 (35 points vs. Indiana) to have two straight such performances.
"Ayo played at an MVP level tonight," Indiana coach Archie Miller said.
And when Dosunmu was needed most, he was clutch.
Dosunmu scored 18 of his team's final 25 points over the last 10 minutes, including 11 points in a 14-0 run that helped the Illini turn a 49-44 deficit with 9:47 to play into a 58-49 lead with 6:06 to play.
"(Dosunmu) can take over whenever he wants to. No one can guard him. Whenever he feels like it, he can take over," Illini sophomore center Kofi Cockburn said.
Dosunmu beat Indiana in a number of ways, from 3-pointers to drives through the lane to pull-up jumpers from the top of the key.
"Coach Underwood told me to be the best player in the country and finish the game off. I accepted the challenge and made the shots I've been working on in the game every day," Dosunmu said. "When it's time to put the other team away, I try to do that."
Already with a reputation for having ice water in the veins, Dosunmu has found a new level this season.
After averaging 16.6 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists in his sophomore season, the Chicago native and two-time state champion with Morgan Park is shooting at a higher percentage this season (52.4 percent compared to 48.4 percent) and is more deadly from beyond the arc (44.4 percent compared to 29.6 percent).
"You can double him, you can do whatever you want on him and he'll make the right pass, the right play and then you give him a crease and he'll make the layup or make free throws when he gets fouled," Underwood said. "I knew (when he was a freshman), Ayo was a hard-rocking dude. I know how much his competitive spirit is.
"(Closing games) is what those guys do. To say you get tired of seeing it, you don't."