Illinois pulls away from Xavier, earns date with Kentucky

MILWAUKEE -- Will Riley scored 22 points and Tomislav Ivisic added 20 points and 10 rebounds to pace sixth-seeded Illinois to an 86-73 victory over 11th-seeded Xavier in the first round of the NCAA Tournament's Midwest Region on Friday.

Illinois (22-12) advances to a Sunday second-round game against third-seeded Kentucky, which pulled away in the second half for a 76-57 victory over 14th-seeded Troy.

Kasparis Jakucionis added 16 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds and Kylan Boswell put up 15 points for the Illini, who had a 45-25 edge on the boards.

Illinois opened the second half with an 8-2 run, going in front 48-37 on a three-point play by Jakucionis.

The Illini hit six consecutive shots over a four-minute span, pushing the lead to 62-48 on Riley's 3-pointer from the top. They extended the lead to 69-52 on a dunk by Morez Johnson Jr. with just under 10 minutes left.

Xavier pulled within 76-68 on a three-point play from Dailyn Swain, but Riley countered with a 3-pointer and Jakucionis converted a steal into a breakaway lay-in to make it 81-68 with 3:01 remaining.

Illinois hit 12 of 30 (40 percent) from beyond the arc and was 18-for-18 from the free-throw line.

Swain had 27 points and eight rebounds while Ryan Conwell and Dayvion McKnight had 12 points apiece for the Musketeers (22-12).

Xavier forced 14 turnovers, including 11 steals, for a 13-6 advantage in points off miscues.

Illinois took its largest lead of the tightly contested first half at 35-27 on Riley's layup with five minutes remaining.

Conwell's jumper brought Xavier within 37-35, but Boswell's step-back 3-pointer just ahead of the buzzer put the Illini up 40-35 at the break.

--Jim Hoehn, Field Level Media