CHAMPAIGN — The race for national player of the year honors is no longer a one-man show. Luka Garza, long penciled in as the inevitable winner, has fallen from his status as a sure thing.
The Iowa center hasn’t played himself out of contention. Far from it.
But Ayo Dosunmu has forced his way into the conversation with 30-point game here, triple-double there and an ongoing run of clutch shot after clutch shot with No. 5 Illinois (15-5, 11-3 Big Ten) set to return to action at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Minnesota (13-9, 6-9).
Illinois coach Brad Underwood pointed out exactly why he considers his junior guard the front-runner (albeit from an admittedly biased point of view) after Dosunmu drilled a pair of dagger three-pointers during the final 90 seconds to secure Tuesday’s 73-66 home win against Northwestern.
“It’s the fashion he’s done it,” Underwood said. “Big scoring nights. Triple-double. Games where he’s had extremely high assist totals. He’s doing it in a lot of areas. It’s not just a point-based deal. It’s how he’s doing it, and the shots he’s hitting.
“He deserves it. I’m excited for him. Obviously, we’ve got a lot of basketball left, but he should be in that conversation.”
Plenty of voices across the national college basketball landscape agree.
Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde called Dosunmu the “pre-eminent closer in college basketball.” CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander doubled down on that premise.
“Ayo Dosunmu is the most irresistible player in college basketball to watch in a tight game with a minute, minute-and-a-half to go,” Norlander said in a recent CBS Sports ‘Eye on College Basketball’ podcast. “He has a killer, closer mentality. … My main takeaway is he has a want for the ball, can just completely take over and that’s a wonderful thing for Illinois.”
It’s the moments Dosunmu creates, however, that are spurring his national player of the year candidacy. Garza went for 30 points during No. 11 Iowa’s 77-62 home win Thursday night against Wisconsin and continues to lead the country in scoring at 24.7 points per game. With 8.4 rebounds per game and a shooting slash of 56/45/71 as a bonus. Dosunmu hitting a pair of late three-pointers to help Illinois avoid an upset at home against Northwestern got much more national play.
Dosunmu’s numbers are pretty good, too. The Chicago native is the only player in the country averaging at least 21 points, six rebounds and five assists this season. Only two other players have accomplished that in a full season since 1993. Morehead State’s Ricky Minard in 2003-04 and this guy you might have heard about named Penny Hardaway in 1992-93 for Memphis State.
Combine those stats and Dosunmu’s innate ability to come through in the clutch, and he’s piecing together a relevant player of the year candidacy slowly, but surely. Simply put, the moments matter.
Dosunmu is coy about naming a favorite late-game moment. He has one, but won’t share. Underwood said to ask him again come April because his might have changed. But here are seven that have defined Dosunmu’s junior season — and his Illinois career:
1. Iso Ayo
Not only did Dosunmu score a then-career-high 27 points during Illinois’ 64-62 victory at Michigan on Jan. 25, 2020, but he delivered one of his many game-winners that season taking Zavier Simpson one-on-one.
The Wolverines’ guard, known as one of the better defenders in the Big Ten, couldn’t stop Dosunmu from getting to his spot at the free-throw line or from the 6-foot-5 Dosunmu rising up for the winning jumper over the outstretched reach of the 6-0 Simpson.
2. ‘This won’t end well’
Illinois’ 79-74 upset of No. 9 Michigan State at State Farm Center on Feb. 5, 2019, is kind of where it all began.
Dosunmu delivered down the stretch, making two deep three-pointers in the final 21/2 minutes to secure Illinois’ best win of the season and spark a court-storming celebration.
3. Crippled by a crossover
Illinois had plenty going against it when it traveled to Madison, Wis., for a Jan. 8, 2020, showdown with Wisconsin. Namely, the Illini hadn’t won at the Kohl Center in a decade and they were wearing their blue road uniforms. Didn’t matter.
Dosunmu put the Badgers’ Brad Davison on skates with a nifty crossover, and hit a three-pointer with 45 seconds to play that was the difference in a 71-70 win by the Illini.
4. Takeover time
That the Illini needed Dosunmu to tap into his inner closer for its Feb. 12 victory at Nebraska is another he did it, though, was the impressive part.
Dosunmu scored the final 10 points of regulation to force overtime, then five more points to start the bonus period. No Dosunmu takeover, no 77-72 Illinois victory.
5. Messed around
Is there such a thing as a quiet triple-double? Dosunmu’s 21-point, 12-rebound, 12-assist effort in a 75-60 home win against Wisconsin on Feb. 6 would have to qualify as such.
Seven turnovers had him angling for the wrong kind of quadruple-double, but Dosunmu couldn’t be stopped in his two-man game with Kofi Cockburn.
6. Maybe don’t let him go left either
A 62-56 victory at Penn State on Feb. 18, 2020, might not seem like much, but there’s more to the story than just a road win against a top-10 team. Dosunmu was a week removed from what looked like a potential serious knee injury, but he still managed to put up 24 points and another late shot to seal the win. Penn State didn’t want him to go right, so he went left and won the game anyway on a running floater.
7. Going for 30
Another late three-pointer (there’s a trend here) not only helped Illinois put away Indiana on Dec. 26 at State Farm Center in an eventual 69-60 win, but it also pushed Dosunmu to the 30-point mark. It was his second straight game with 30 points — a first for his career.
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