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National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Illinois 85, Bethune-Cookman 52
When: 8:30 PM ET, Thursday, December 29, 2022
Where: State Farm Center, Champaign, Illinois
Officials: # Tariq Lucas, # Bryan Anslinger, # D.J. Carstensen
Attendance: 15544

Sophomore center Dain Dainja produced a career-high 22 points to go with six rebounds, four blocks and four steals in his first career start as Illinois capped its nonconference schedule with an 85-52 rout of Bethune-Cookman on Thursday night in Champaign, Ill.

Coleman Hawkins notched 11 points and 11 rebounds for his third double-double of the season, while Terrence Shannon Jr. scored 13 points and freshman Sencire Harris added a season-high 12 for Illinois (9-4), which built a 32-point lead late in the first half and cruised from there.

Kevin Davis paced Bethune-Cookman (4-9) with 13 points and Dylan Robertson added 12. The Wildcats shot just 29.3 percent from the floor while dropping their fifth in a row. Chicago native Marcus Garrett, the Wildcats' leading scorer at 14 points per game, was limited to five points on 1-of-9 shooting.

After his team's stinging 22-point loss to Missouri in its previous outing on Dec. 22, Illinois coach Brad Underwood trotted out a new lineup and new offensive sets that emphasized more movement. With starting point guard Skyy Clark out due to a left shoulder injury, Harris made his first start. Dainja started in place of guard RJ Melendez.

Illinois ended the game's suspense early as its swarming man-to-man defense suffocated Bethune-Cookman. The Fighting Illini bolted to a 10-0 lead as turnovers created fast-break layups for Hawkins and Shannon and a 3-pointer for Harris.

Bethune-Cookman finally scored on its 10th possession -- Davis canning an 8-foot fadeaway five minutes into the game -- but Illinois kept forcing turnovers that led to transition baskets.

Illinois induced 11 turnovers in the first 11 minutes en route to building a 31-10 advantage. The lead swelled to 44-12 on Jayden Epps' 3-pointer with 3:24 to go before the Wildcats cut the margin to 47-19 by halftime - at which point Bethune-Cookman was shooting 20 percent from the field with 14 turnovers.

The Fighting Illini finished with 10 blocks and 10 steals as they forced 21 turnovers overall.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Bethune-Cookman   Illinois
Kevin Davis 13 Scoring Dain Dainja 22
Zion Harmon 3 Assists Coleman Hawkins 4
Damani McEntire 9 Rebounds Coleman Hawkins 11
Dylan Robertson 4 Free Throws Made Dain Dainja 6
Damani McEntire 5 Steals Dain Dainja 4
Elijah Hulsewe 1 Blocks Dain Dainja 4
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Bethune-Cookman 52 29.3 3-13 15-20 6 33 3 12 21
Illinois 85 49.2 8-28 19-27 17 38 10 10 15