Illinois Basketball: 3 keys to beating Baylor in 2020 Jimmy V Classic matchup

2. Big game from Kofi Cockburn

On the heels of a fantastic 2019-2020 Big Ten Freshman of the Year campaign, Kofi Cockburn has not continued that momentum into his sophomore campaign.

It’s a far cry to say he’s had a sophomore slump thus far, but he doesn’t look like the dominant player he was last year.

The 7-foot, 290-pound center out of Jamaica is one of the most physically dominant players in all of the country. His numbers have improved, and that was inevitable, but when you watch the games, you’ll see it looks like he might have taken a bit of a step back.

Now, it’s quite likely that Cockburn is just off to a slow start, and that he should be back to dominating every puny human that has the misfortune of guarding the gargantuan in due time. But right now, Cockburn is still getting into foul trouble and has put up pedestrian numbers in the first two games, opposed to what he’s capable of. In the last two games, Cockburn has only put up 14 and 13 points respectfully. For a team that needs his production, this just won’t get it done.

Cockburn has a chance to turn this around on Wednesday, against a Baylor team that doesn’t trot out anyone with enough size to combat the center. Cockburn getting going would be a good sign for the Illini.