Top-seeded Illinois, 7-footer overwhelm Drexel in opener
Kofi Cockburn scored 10 straight points as Illini pulled away.
INDIANAPOLIS — Kofi Cockburn muscled his way to 18 points and Illinois cruised past 16th-seeded Drexel 78-49 Friday in the Illini’s first NCAA Tournament game as a No. 1 seed in 16 years.
Illinois (23-6) will face eighthseeded Loyola Chicago or ninthseeded Georgia Tech in the second round of the Midwest Regional on Sunday.
e that will be more of a test for the Big Ten champions. Drexel (12-8) never really had chance at containing the 7-foot, 285-pound Cockburn, who was 8 for 11 from the field.
James Butler — 6-8 and 242 pounds — drew the daunting task of trying to handle Cockburn, without much success. The senior did have 10 points and 10 rebounds for Drexel.
The Dragons closed the season with four straight victories, including three during a surprising run through the Colonial Athletic Association tournament, to earn a bid to the NCAAs for the first time since 1996. They managed to stay competitive for about seven minutes, taking an 8-7 lead.
Indiana Farmers Coliseum, home of IUPUI of the Horizon League and a minor league hockey team, hosted the Midwest Region
games Friday. The 82-year-old building that hosted the Beatles’ only concert in Indiana normally holds about 6,800 for basketball, but capacity was capped at 1,200 for its first NCAA games because of COVID-19 restrictions.
Illini fans, excited to see the first No. 1-seeded Illinois team since the program’s last Final Four run in 2005, seemed to get their hands on most of the tickets, dotting the stands with blue and orange.
It took their team a few minutes to find a groove. All-American Dosunmu didn’t score his first points until he swooped in for a layup with 6:19 left in the first half.
Still sporting a black Batman mask to protect the broken nose he suffered last month, Dosunmu finished with 17 points.
Cockburn got loose for 10 straight Illinois points, capping his personal run with a slam off a flip from Dosunmu. The Illini closed the half on a 32-13 run. The lead got to 20 points after a minute in the second half and never dipped below that the rest of the way.
■Texas Tech 65, Utah
State 53: Mac McClung scored 16 points in his first career NCAA Tournament game and Kyler Edwards added 12 to help sixth-seeded Texas Tech pull away from 11th-seeded Utah State.
The Red Raiders snapped a two-game losing streak and made new memories in the tournament after their most recent appearance, a loss to Virginia in the 2019 national championship game. Texas Tech (18-10) can reach its third consecutive Sweet 16 with a win over third-seeded Arkansas on Sunday.
Neemias Queta had 11 points, 13 rebounds and six assists, and tied Utah State’s single-game school record with seven blocks. Justin Bean had 13 points and eight rebounds for the Aggies (20-9), who lost their final two games.
■Florida 75, Virgina Tech 70: Florida is heading to the second round for an eighth straight NCAA Tournament appearance — and with arguably its best player on the bench as a de facto assistant coach.
Colin Castleton scored 19 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, Tre Mann hit a step-back 3-pointer with 23 seconds left in overtime and the seventh-seeded Gators held off No. 10 seed Virginia Tech in a first-round game.
Florida was cheered on by Keyontae Johnson, who has supported and inspired his teammates from the bench since his return from a scary medical episode. Johnson collapsed on the court during a game in December and was hospitalized, forcing him to sit out the rest of the season.
■Arkansas 85, Colgate 68: Justin Smith had 29 points and 13 rebounds, and No. 10 Arkansas shut down high-scoring Colgate to open the NCAA Tournament with an 85-68 win on Friday.
The 14th-seeded Raiders (14-2) had upset pickers out of their seats early in the South Region opener with a slew of 3-pointers and a 16-2 run to go up 14. The No. 3 Razorbacks (23-6) restored some bracket order with a 19-0 run spanning halftime and scored 10 straight points late to pull away.
Arkansas’ defense became the deciding factor.
The Razorbacks, at times, snatched the ball right out of the Raiders’ hands to set up shots in transition, scoring 34 points off Colgate’s 22 turnovers. Arkansas forced five turnovers during the decisive run, holding Colgate without a field goal for more than six minutes to turn a close game into a 13-point lead.