Minnesota avenged its recent blowout loss to the Illini on Wednesday night. In the second half, the Gophers pulled away from an Illini team that’s not good enough on offense to overcome its deficiencies on defense. For Illinois, it was another lesson in how reliant they are on the performance of their key freshmen— Tevian Jones, Giorgi Bezhanishvili and Ayo Dosunmu. The trio combined for only 25 points and 5 rebounds

Trent Frazier: A-

From the beginning, Trent Frasier was in cruise control as he ended up leading the Illini with 30 points. He was able to slice through Minnesota’s defense with ease:

He was deadly from the outside:

And, his three to end the first half gave the Illini hope of a sweep over Minnesota.

Giorgi Bezhanishvili: D-

Giorgi played like a freshman for the second consecutive game. He was notably absent on offense, notching only 9 points, and he was a liability on defense. His rebounding was also non-existent. Giorgi could never get into flow as his all-around poor outing cost the Illini dearly.

Tevian Jones: B

Tevian was decent in the first half but disappeared was on the bench during a crucial second-half stretch that saw the Gophers build a second-half lead. Still, Tevian’s aggressiveness on the defensive end is exactly what Illini fans want to see from him, but we need to see more of it. In other words, we need to see more of Tevian on the court.

Ayo Dosunmu: D-

Ayo scored 6 points on 3-of-9 shooting and only had 4 assists. His inability to get going made life difficult for the offense as no one else on the court was able to capitalize on Frazier’s spectacular night.

Brad Underwood: F

The Illini looked clueless on defense the entire night and the Illini offense could not get into a consistent flow on offense — especially in the second half. This is largely on Underwood as his rotations continue to baffle.

Tevian Jones sat during key stretches while Aaron Jordan played during these stretches despite the latter’s struggles on both offense and defense. All in all, Underwood continually struggles to get the right lineup on the court.

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