No. 24 Illinois trounces winless Chicago State 117-64

Field Level Media|published: Sun 29th December, 16:23 2024

Dec 29, 2024; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini guard Kylan Boswell (4) drives past Chicago State Cougars forward Mike Brown (25) and looks to pass during the first half at State Farm Center. Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-Imagn Images

Tomislav Ivisic scored a career-high 23 points to lead six players in double figures as No. 24 Illinois raced past visiting Chicago State 117-64 on Sunday in Champaign, Ill.

Kylan Boswell also starred for the Fighting Illini (9-3) with an 18-point, 10-rebound, 10-assist triple-double. Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn added 16 points, while Kasparas Jakucionis contributed 14. Will Riley hit for 13 points and Morez Johnson Jr. came off the bench to net 11.

Gabe Spinelli scored 20 points for the winless Cougars (0-15) and Noble Crawford added 15, but they just didn't have the scoring punch to stay with their Big Ten Conference opponent.

Illinois outshot Chicago State 62.1 percent (41 of 66) to 37.3 percent (25 of 67) from the field and 45.5 percent (15 of 33) to 32.3 percent (10 of 31) from the 3-point line. The Cougars were also outrebounded 47-23.

Illinois led for all but 24 seconds of the game, scoring basically at will. The Illini reaped a 28-4 advantage in free-throw attempts, drew 26 assists and earned a 48-16 advantage in points in the paint.

In its last game before jumping into the bulk of its Big Ten schedule Thursday night at Oregon, Illinois wasted no time putting its stamp on the game. It carved out a double-figure edge at the 14:59 mark of the first half on Gibbs-Lawhorn's 3-pointer that made it 17-7 and simply kept expanding that lead.

The margin reached 20 for the first time with 10:06 left when Ivisic drained a 3-pointer from the right wing for a 32-10 cushion. Johnson's foul shot with 3:43 remaining increased the advantage to 30 at 48-18, and Jake Davis' 3-pointer from the corner with a second on the clock gave the Illini a 60-24 cushion at halftime.

Boswell's short jumper with 18:22 left in the game built Illinois' first 40-point advantage at 65-24. Riley splashed a 3-pointer with 9:57 remaining to up the lead to 50 at 93-43.

Davis made another 3-pointer at the 7:59 mark to get the Illini to the 100-point threshold. They led by as many as 58 points in the final two minutes.

--Field Level Media

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