CHAMPAIGN — Ayo Dosunmu spent the majority of Thursday night’s game in his seat on the Illinois bench.
Occasionally peaking around assistant coaches Orlando Antigua or Chin Coleman when they popped out of their seats to yell instructions to the team.
Finding a place behind Trent Frazier and Andre Curbelo during timeout huddles so he could discuss the game with his backcourt teammates.
Still, Dosunmu in a long-sleeved blue shirt, gray sweatpants and a blue mask on the Illinois bench all night long was an odd sight.
It was just the third game the Illini junior has missed after last year’s game at Rutgers (leg injury) and the East Tennessee State game his freshman year (a coach’s decision after he was late to a shootaround).
Dosunmu, out with a facial injury that was the result of an ejection-worthy blow Tuesday night from Michigan State’s Mady Sissoko, did at least have a front-row seat to an 86-70 Illini win against Nebraska on Thursday night at State Farm Center.
He watched freshman guard Adam Miller get going offensively in the first half. Watched Curbelo chase a triple-double of his own. And watched Kofi Cockburn overcome some early frustrations to dominate another team in the paint.
“We had our guy down,” Illinois senior guard Trent Frazier said. “We have multiple guys on this team that can go for a big night. We were not worried one bit. We all just stayed focused on Nebraska and didn’t get carried away with having our guy down. We just went out there and played for the seniors and played for Ayo.”
Dosunmu’s status remains unclear moving forward. Illinois (17-6, 13-4 Big Ten) plays again at 1 p.m. Saturday at No. 23 Wisconsin. There’s no guarantee Dosunmu will play against the Badgers — particularly given the way Illinois coach Brad Underwood discussed the injury on Thursday night.
His tone at least seemed to indicate something more serious than the rumored broken nose.
“We’re not going to do anything to jeopardize that young man’s career,” Underwood said. “He’s the National player of the Year. We’ll do everything we can to expedite that process, but we will never jeopardize his health and well-being.”
Underwood declined to detail Dosunmu’s exact injury other than to say any time an injury involves the head or face it’s “sensitive.”
Dosunmu did post a 14-second video to Twitter before Thursday’s game against the Cornhuskers (5-17, 1-14) that ended with him showing a hard plastic, protective face mask he might wind up wearing.
Dosunmu spent the majority of Wednesday seeing multiple doctors after Illinois’ late return from East Lansing, Mich. That’s when the Illini received a definitive diagnosis and started to plan for facing Nebraska without their leading scorer.
“He wasn’t even around at practice at all and was around sparingly (Thursday),” Underwood said. “But any time Ayo’s presence is in the locker room, it is going to be impactful. Everybody trusts what he says.
“He was a little bit subdued on the bench. Obviously, there’s a lot of reasons for that, but he’s impactful when he says stuff. I did get a laugh out of him on the bench when I got on an official, but that was about as much emotion as we got out of Ayo.”
Dosunmu did have a willing ear in Curbelo during the game and a hug for the Illinois freshman guard after he nearly pulled off his own triple-double with 10 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists.
“He saw the game, he saw my performance,” Curbelo said. “He was just showing love. I appreciate his love. I was playing out there for my seniors and for him. That moment was very special. … Throughout the game, I was talking with him and asking him questions. Do you see something out there I’ve got to fix? Do you want me to do something different?”
Underwood said he had heard from Michigan State Tom Izzo since Tuesday’s incident but declined to say what the two discussed.
What happens with Sissoko given he was ejected Tuesday because of the Flagrant-2 foul on Dosunmu is something Underwood said should be determined by the Big Ten office and he would leave to Illinois athletic director Josh Whitman to handle. Sissoko played sparingly off the bench for the Spartans in their 71-67 upset victory at home against Ohio State on Thursday night.
Former Illini Alan Griffin received a Flagrant-2 foul when he stepped on Purdue guard Sasha Stefanovic during a game on Jan. 21, 2020, and received a two-game suspension from the Big Ten.
“A precedent was set last year, in my opinion, with Flagrant 2s,” Underwood said. “I think they all get reviewed. They all go to some committee or somebody. I don’t even know the process. Last year when Alan got suspended for his Flagrant 2, I didn’t receive a call from anybody. It was three or four days after before that happened.
“Obviously, with the league schedule that’s going on right now, Michigan State is playing. I don’t know if anything had even been ruled on (Thursday). That’s going to be the league office, and I’m not going to comment any more on it because I’ve got no say in it.”
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