Feb. 27—CHAMPAIGN — Illinois senior Coleman Hawkins is one of the most unique personalities in Big Ten Conference basketball.
He’s the player that you either love or hate, depending on your allegiance and the outcome of the contest.
In the last week, Hawkins has been on each side of the spectrum for the Fighting Illini fans.
Coming off a forgettable 90-89 loss at Penn State on Wednesday, which saw Hawkins miss a pair of free throws and then foul Zach Hicks on a 3-pointer, allowing him to make all three free throws to seal the win for the Nittany Lions. The 6-foot-10 forward scored a career-best 30 points to lead No. 12 Illinois past the Iowa Hawkeyes 95-85 on Saturday at the State Farm Center.
“I think it takes a lot of mental toughness,” said Hawkins when asked about bouncing back from Wednesday. “I think the good thing was that we didn’t have time or a day off to just think about it. We flowed right into practice.”
Hawkins also said that he deleted some apps and got off social media.
“I tried to limit who I talked to. Not making excuses for myself and just be a man, really,” he said. “I just had to man up and onto the next. That’s what I did.
“Honestly, a lot of people were saying whatever they had to say. I’m just curious, how they would have responded if they were me? I thought I did a good job of being tough, going out (today) and letting everything go.”
His statistics seem to speak for themselves.
Hawkins not only scored 30 points, but he was 9-of-11 from the field and 9-of-11 from the free-throw line. He had just 2 rebounds, but he dished out five assists and recorded five steals, including getting on the floor for a pivotal one late in the second half.
“I couldn’t be prouder of Coleman, his growth, his maturity. It was a great bounce back from the other night,” Illinois coach Brad Underwood said. “We had a get real conversation. I’m really happy with him. I love his response. A year or two ago, I’m not sure that would have been the response. I think it was beneficial we had a quick turnaround.
“It’s more about the mental approach and it was not there at Penn State and he knows that.”
And what about that diving steal in the second half?
“As a veteran and leader, that is contagious,” Underwood said. “We played this same Iowa team a few years ago, and it took Da’Monte Williams diving on the floor for a loose ball to win a championship. That’s how you win.”
Ironically, Hawkins was part of the starting five along with Marcus Domask, Terrence Shannon Jr., Quincy Guerrier and Ty Rodgers that got benched just 1 minute, 54 seconds into the second half.
Underwood subbed in a new five players of Niccolo Moretti, Justin Harmon, Luke Goode, Amani Hansberry and Dain Dainja after Iowa’s Owen Freeman secured an offensive rebound.
“I was just thrilled with the way the first group played. I was just so excited about us not getting on the floor and giving up rebounds,” said Underwood in a clearly sarcastic attitude. “I had seen enough with the group. Their butt needed to find the bench. They needed to understand that it’s not acceptable, playing time is not a given thing.”
Did his move work? Not at first, but eventually with the help of Moretti and Harmon, the Illini would outscore the Hawkeyes 38-21 in the game’s final 12 minutes.
“I like this team a lot and I use the word team in all caps,” Underwood said. “Today was an unbelievable team victory.”
Moretti, who failed to score in Illinois’ last three games, had nine points in the second half, including a pair of 3-pointers, helping spark the late rally. Moretti last scored against Michigan on Jan. 18.
“You can tell Nicco is a coach’s kid,” Underwood said. “He has never asked me what he needs to do to play more. He just shows up and works hard every day. I guarantee you he didn’t know he was going to play 17 minutes today, but he was ready.
“He’s the ultimate team guy, and that was an incredible team win for us. It wasn’t easy.”
Joining Hawkins in double figures on Saturday was Shannon and Harmon with 12 each. The Illini bench outscored the Hawkeyes reserves 34-12, and they outrebounded them 20-2.
“The bench won us this game,” Underwood said.
Josh Dix scored a team-high 20 points for Iowa, Tony Perkins added 18, Payton Sandfort had 12 and Owen Freeman chipped in with eight points and eight rebounds for Iowa (16-12, 8-9), which led 64-57 with 12:15 left in the second half but failed to hold on.
Saturday’s victory was the 1,000th in Big Ten history for the Illini as a charter member of the league.
It was also the 20th this season, which is the fifth straight season with 20 wins. Underwood is only the second Illinois coach to accomplish that feat, joining Lou Henson, who won 20 or more game in nine straight seasons from 1983 to 1991.
Up nest for Illinois is a home game Wednesday night against Minnesota.
