Kofi Cockburn operates inside in the first half against Houston.
Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images
PITTSBURGH — Another second-round snakebite for Illinois.
They all hurt and leave a mark. This one is no different.
Fifth-seeded Houston beat the fourth-seeded Illini 68-53 on Sunday, setting up a potential date for the Cougars (31-5) with South Region No. 1 Arizona in the Sweet 16 in San Antonio. The Illini (23-10) go home, just as they did last year after a second-round loss to underdog Loyola in a 1-vs.-8 game.
Illinois beat Chattanooga by a point on Friday, running the school record to 7-0 in 4-vs.-13 games. But the last six of those Illini teams lost to No. 5 seeds in Round 2. It was Alabama in 1986, Florida in 2000, Notre Dame in 2003, Washington in 2006 and Virginia Tech in 2007. And now Houston.
Illinois started off promisingly, with a Coleman Hawkins three, a pure jumper from slumping Trent Frazier and a dive to the bucket for a score by freshman RJ Melendez. But troubles came quickly.
Houston’s offensive rebounding was a game-long story. Alfonso Plummer was unable to make any sort of early impact, Da’Monte Williams passed up multiple open shots and Andre Curbelo had nothing but problems after checking in, going 0-for-4 from the field and committing turnovers on two inbound passes as the Cougars took a double-digit lead. Curbelo did not play in the second half.
Luke Goode, another freshman, hit a pair of three-pointers and Frazier nailed one just before the halftime horn to bring the Illini to within 30-26. Underwood didn’t use his freshmen in the opening round, but he leaned hard on them in an intense, pressure-packed test against the Cougars that certain older, bigger-name players simply couldn’t handle.
Melendez, in particular, had a terrific game, giving fans much to look forward to. He drove to the bucket hard, scoring and creating chances for others, and gave fans something to look forward to.
The score was 47-45 after a Kofi Cockburn three-point play with eight minutes left, but it was all Cougars from there. Tax Moore (21 points), Jamal Shead (18) and Kyler Edwards were much too much as the Illini were outmuscled and out-hustled by what appeared to be a clearly better team.
Cockburn had 19 points and eight rebounds. He played hard, as always, in what might have be his final college game. What’s next for him?
It was a reunion of sorts with Houston coach Kelvin Sampson, whom Illini fans did not remember well before this matchup. Sampson resigned at Indiana amid scandal in 2008, was banned by the NCAA for five years and has won big with the Cougars since arriving in 2014. But in Illini country, he’ll always be the guy who stole mega-recruit Eric Gordon in 2006. And now this.
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