Feb. 9—Lu’Cye Patterson scored a team-high 24 points for Minnesota on Saturday against Illinois. The 6-foot-1 guard, who calls Minneapolis home, had only topped that one other time in a career that also had stops at Missouri State and Charlotte. Femi Odukale added 22 points for the Gophers. Similarly, it was one of the former Pittsburgh/Seton Hall/New Mexico guard’s best efforts.
“You look at those numbers — two guys with 20 — you’d think the last 4 minutes would be a heck of a game,” Minnesota coach Ben Johnson said.
It wasn’t. Illinois led by 25 points with 4 minutes to play Saturday night at Williams Arena.
Because as good as Patterson and Odukale were for Minnesota, the Illini had more. Will Riley scored a game-high 27 points and flirted with a triple-double. Kasparas Jakucionis put up 24 points in a return to form for the freshman guard. And Tomislav Ivisic finished with his ninth double-double of the season — 18 points and 11 rebounds all while playing on a sprained left ankle.
“That just shows how much firepower they’ve got,” Johnson said. “There’s a reason why a lot of those guys are on NBA draft boards are close to it. That’s one of the more talented teams I’ve seen in a while, and you can’t just key in on one guy. If one guy doesn’t have it, they’re unselfish.
“It shows you the kind of depth they have when Will Riley comes off your bench. That says a lot when you’ve got that type of offensive firepower.”
