KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kofi Cockburn missed the first three games of the season for Illinois for violating NCAA rules, and Alfonso Plummer might as well have missed them given the way his normally reliable shot kept bouncing out.
Both of them made their presence known Tuesday night.
Cockburn bruised his way to 23 points and 13 rebounds in his second game back, and Plummer hit seven 3-pointers and added 21 points as the No. 14 Illini held off Kansas State 72-64 in the consolation game of the Hall of Fame Classic.
Plummer finished 7 of 9 from beyond the arc, and the Illini (3-2) went 12 of 26 from 3 as a team, as they bounced back from a 71-51 blowout loss to Cincinnati in the semifinals to avoid their third consecutive loss.