National Basketball Association
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
By Field Level Media
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 |
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