Illinois pushes around University of Hawaii to earn basketball victory

On Monday afternoon, Hawaii basketball player Eddie Stansberry was named the Big West Conference’s Player of the Week.

But there would be no Champaign celebration that night.

The Rainbow Warriors’ shooting woes and foul trouble added up to Illinois’ 66-53 victory before 11,589 in the State Farm Center on the Champaign, Ill., campus.

The Fighting Illini have won all eight meetings against the ’Bows, who are 0-7 in road games against Big Ten opponents. The Illini improved to 3-1. The ’Bows fell to 3-2.

“I thought we battled for the first 30 minutes of the game, and then I think we wore down,” said Chris Gerlufsen, UH’s acting head coach, in a postgame phone call.

It was tied at 26 at the intermission despite the ’Bows being limited to 12-for-23 shooting, including 2-for-12 from behind the arc. The ’Bows did not attempt a free throw in the first half. The Illini made eight of 11 before the halftime show.

“We didn’t shoot the ball well in the first half,” Gerlufsen said. “If we were just decent … if you go into halftime up six to 10 points, then it presents Illinois with a little different mind-set coming out of halftime.”

In the first half, the ’Bows alternated between a match-up zone and man-to-man defense to slow Illinois’ fast break and harass 7-foot, 290-pound center Kofi Cockburn. But with the ’Bows in foul trouble — they were twice called for flopping and not rewarded when Cockburn appeared to charge into Zigmars Raimo — the Illini freely attacked the low post.

Cockburn finished with 15 points and 14 rebounds, taking advantage of Dawson Carper’s absences because of foul trouble. Carper, who played perhaps his best defensive game of the season, eventually exited with his fifth foul.

The ’Bows cut a 10-point deficit to 52-47 when Raimo slipped past a defender for a lay-in with 7:19 to play.

But then the Illini went on a 14-2 surge to move out of reach. Guard Trent Frazier took advantage of a retreating defense to hit outside shots. He finished with 13 points. Giorgi Bezhanishvili was a nuisance from near and far, contributing 10 points, nine rebounds and three assists to Cockburn.

“They’re a well-coached team,” Gerlufsen said. “They’re a tough team. They’re a hard-nosed team. I just think we could have helped ourselves a little bit more in how we executed.”

Raimo led the ’Bows with 16 points. Stansberry and point guard Drew Buggs combined for 16 points on 7-for-26 shooting. Buggs missed all three of his 3s and Stansberry made just two of nine from behind the arc.

“I’m proud of the fight,” Gerlufsen said. “I’m proud of the effort. That’s probably one of the bigger, more physical teams you could face. I thought we stood up to them for 30 minutes. Were we happy with the result? Absolutely not. But that’s a game that could make us better in the long run if we use it the right way.”