DURHAM, N.C. — Ayo Dosunmu has pressed maybe a single half of basketball this season. The first half of last week’s loss to No. 2 Baylor wasn’t his best. The Bears’ defense certainly played a role in those struggles.
Otherwise, Dosunmu has been in complete control of his game. Nothing has been rushed. Just quietly kind of dominant. Notable with a glance at the box score at halftime and there’s a realization he’s well on his way to a double-double and flirting with a triple-double again.
Like Tuesday night at Duke.
Dosunmu quietly dropped eight points, eight rebounds and four assists on the Blue Devils in the first 20 minutes. He finished with a team-high 18 points (just one behind Duke forward Matthew Hurt) and a game-high 12 rebounds. Five assists plus one block and one steal for good measure.
“I just have that type of game where I let the game come to me,” Dosunmu said. “I just play off my instinct — just play off my feel — and kind of have that mindset where I get my teammates involved.”
Dosunmu name dropped both the Dallas Mavericks’ Luka Doncic and Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James as reference points for how he wants to play. Their mindset is how he sees the game, too.
“I don’t have to come out and shoot the first five shots,” Dosunmu said. “I let the game come to me and let my instincts play off that.”
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Dosunmu’s dozen rebounds against Duke marked the second time in five games Illinois’ preseason All-American set a new career high. His top rebounding performance heading into his junior season was nine — a number he hit twice early in his freshman year and again last season at home against Michigan State.
Ten rebounds in Illinois’ season opener against North Carolina A&T was a new career high and also his first career double-double. Tuesday’s 18-and-12 night was his second.
“I just try to be an all-around player,” said Dosunmu, who is the only player in the country averaging at least 22 points, eight rebounds and six assists this season. For reference, no player hit those averages the last five seasons either. For further reference, only Penny Hardaway in 1992-93 did so.
“I do believe that I’m the most complete player in the game,” Dosunmu continued. “I just try to let that speak for itself. Score when I have to score. Pass when I have to pass. Rebound when I have to rebound. That’s just the mentality I have being a complete player.”
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One strong performance could be an anomaly. Two is more of a trend. Giorgi Bezhanishvili’s got the latter going on after following up a breakthrough last week against Baylor (15 points, four rebounds) with another Tuesday night against Duke (11 points, five rebounds).
“He’s just getting his rhythm back,” Dosunmu said. “His confidence, the work he’s putting in, it’s showing. When you work so hard, you don’t become afraid. You fall back on your work ethic, and I think he did a great job of that these last two games.”
Bezhanishvili still got in some solo work in the post backing up Kofi Cockburn, but the 6-foot-9 Georgian big man also played more alongside the 7-foot Jamaican.
It’s a matchup-oriented pairing. Duke went big occasionally with 6-9 forwards Jalen Johnson and Matthew Hurt playing with 7-foot center Mark Williams. But Illinois coach Brad Underwood said it’s a frontcourt lineup he’ll keep using when he can.
“We’ve got enough stuff in offensively where we can utilize a lot of that,” Underwood said of the Bezhanishvili-Cockburn pairing. “Giorgi’s playing absolutely phenomenal, and we need him on the floor. We see all of Giorgi’s tools. He’s such a good passer. He’s scoring in the post. He’s playing with tremendous confidence. I love him defensively right now because he’s talking and energetic. We’re a better team on the defensive side when he’s out there.”
Illinois also might be better offensively with Andre Curbelo on the floor. The freshman point guard hit double digits for the third time in five games with 12 points against Duke. He also had two assists and two rebounds. Plus five turnovers.
“He was really good, and he was really sloppy,” Underwood said. “I think that’s the best way to say that. We’ll grade it out once we watch film, but as a point guard he’s got to do a better job of understanding time and score at the end of the game. Yet my goodness, he probably should have had three more assists that were dropped or we missed bunnies. He has a great way of finding his way into the heart of the paint and then fanning it or dropping it off.”
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Curbelo wasn’t the only freshman guard to play well Tuesday night in Durham. Adam Miller was the only Illinois regular not to finish in double figures, but he did have nine points. Nine points that came on a trio of early three-pointers that helped the Illini build a double-digit lead they only relinquished for two brief periods in the first half.
“He was great early, and that’s what happens when he gets out and runs,” Underwood said. “He’s elite. We want him shooting all those balls when he’s open in transition. He got us off to a great start and showed everybody what kind of player he is.”
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Miller dinged up his elbow in the second half. Underwood said it was “a funny bone deal.”
How it happened, though, was more important, with Miller laying out for a loose ball to save a possession and help preserve the Illini’s double-digit lead.
It harkened back to a story Dosunmu told from a preseason practice. He dove for a loose ball. Miller didn’t. A lesson was learned by the Illinois freshman about what it takes to play high-level college basketball.
“I congratulated him in the locker room,” Dosunmu said. “That’s huge. He made a great play. They were on a run. That’s winning basketball. That’s one thing I love about Adam. He always takes constructive criticism, and he does his best to not try to make the same mistakes. He doesn’t talk back. He just wants to get better.”
Underwood enjoyed Miller’s hustle play against Duke, too.
“That’s so awesome,” the Illini coach said. “That might be one of my favorite plays. That and Da’Monte (Williams) and Ayo with the loose ball right in front of their bench late. That’s how you win.
“Those are the extra possessions. That’s what it takes to go where we want to go. The beauty of Ayo doing that is I didn’t have to do that. I can just sit back a smile. Shrug almost. That’s what Illinois basketball is about. No better teachers than our veterans.”
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