I-L-L...A-Y-O: Dosunmu Returns To Lead Illini To Win At No. 9 Penn State

In less than seven full days, Ayo Dosunmu went from laying on the State Farm Center floor in agonizing pain to standing tall once again leading Illinois to victory.

Without having witnessed the slip, fall and injury occur on Feb. 11 in a home loss to Michigan State, it would be hard to convince the casual viewer Illinois’ leading scorer ever had a serious issue. Dosunmu, who needed just one game of rest after suffering a severe left leg injury, led all scorers with 24 points and 16 coming in the second half where he, once again, willed Illinois (17-9, 9-6 in Big Ten Conference) to a 62-56 road victory at No. 9 Penn State.

Dosunmu, as he’s previously done this season in road wins at Wisconsin and Michigan, hit a runner in the lane with 18 seconds left to seemingly put this win away from an Illini program desperate to shed a four-game losing streak.

“It’s really nice to have really good players,” Illinois head coach Brad Underwood said in the post-game interview on FS1. “He doesn’t fear the miss. We’re blessed and we got a young man on our side who is really talented and really smart.”

Underwood told reporters Monday morning that Dosunmu’s status was still “day to day” to play against the Nittany Lions after the sophomore guard watched from the bench Saturday as his team took a 15-point loss at Rutgers Saturday. However, the Illini leading scorer at 15.4 points per game, was seen early in warmups Tuesday night at the Bryce Jordan Center in State College and Illinois officials confirmed the status that the Chicago native would be getting immediately back in the starting lineup.

The victory, which now places Illinois in a five-way tie for third place in the league standings, marks the program's first road win over a Top-10 team since taking out No. 10 Gonzaga on Dec. 8, 2012. It was the Illini’s first conference road win against a Top-10 team, meanwhile since a 71-67 overtime victory at Mackey Arena over No. 9 Purdue on Dec. 30, 2008. For those wondering, Dosunmu was just 18 days away from celebrating his ninth birthday when the Illini got that Top 10 road win over the Boilermakers over 12 years ago.

Dosunmu immediately showed little physical limitations from his injury, which occurred as he drove down the sideline in the final possession of the 70-69 loss to Michigan State near the Illinois bench at State Farm Center before slipping and appearing to immediately grab at his left knee, as he found driving lanes and his noteworthy step-back jumper early in this contest.

“Oh yeah, Ayo doesn’t make mistakes,” Underwood said Monday about missing his team’s leader. “Ayo is as cerebral a player as there is. Part of being a really good player at this level is understanding what your assignments are, personnel, who to close out on and Ayo doesn’t make those mistakes. We missed him more defensively but we also missed the easy baskets he gets in transition and then he sprays it and makes others better.”

Kofi Cockburn, who was coming off a double-double effort at Rutgers in the previous game, fought through early foul trouble to contribute 10 of his 14 points in the second half as the Jamaican native dominated the paint after the halftime break.

Penn State leading scorer and Big Ten player of the year candidate Lamar Stevens struggled with foul trouble and the face-guarding defense of Illini guard Da’Monte Williams to just 13 points on 3 of 11 shooting. The point total is just one off Stevens’ lowest production level in Big Ten Conference play this season and his lowest production at home since the calendar flip to 2020.

Penn State (20-6, 10-5) connected on just 4 of 19 from beyond the three-point arc after having made 25 shots from long range over its last two victories over Purdue and Northwestern.

Illinois also snapped a six-game skid against Penn State and a six-year losing streak in State College with the Illini’s last win at the Jordan Center coming on Feb. 9, 2014.

With the win, Illinois now has retied Maryland and Penn State with four conference road wins this season. Before the victory, the Illini had dropped 18 straight against Top 25 opponents in true road games.

Illinois and its leading scorer Dosunmu will now have nearly a week off before hosting Nebraska on Feb. 24 at 7 p.m. on BTN.