BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – No. 19 Illinois cruised to a comfortable and dominant 94-69 road win over Indiana at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Tuesday night.
The Fighting Illini led by as many as 31 points en route to their largest road win against the Hoosiers in program history.
Despite missing the last two games, Kasparas Jakucionis did not miss a beat in his return, finishing with 21 points while making three 3-pointers and going 7-for-13 from the field. The Lithuania native also accumulated five assists and three rebounds.
Tomislav Ivisic posted his seventh double-double of the year, amassing 17 points and 11 rebounds. Knocking down three 3-pointers, all of which came in the first half, Ivisic dished out four assists and made one block, while five of his 11 boards came on the offensive glass.
Kylan Boswell tallied a season-best and game-high 22 points, including 13 points in the second half. Recording his first 20-point outing of the campaign, Boswell also totaled seven rebounds, three steals, and two assists.
Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn added 12 points off the bench and corralled two offensive rebounds.
Ben Humrichous tacked on seven points and five rebounds, Tre White collected five points and six boards, and Morez Johnson Jr. logged five points and 10 rebounds.
Five lead changes inside the opening three minutes encapsulated the back-and-forth nature of both teams’ early few possessions, but the Orange and Blue soon settled in on both ends of the floor. Jakucionis accounted for eight of the Illini’s first 10 points, and a 15-2 Illinois run gave the visitors a double-digit advantage less than seven minutes into the contest.
Jakucionis reached double figures two minutes later, and he was only just getting started. A 10-2 Illini run – which featured 3-pointers from Boswell, Ivisic, and Jakucionis – brought the away side’s edge above the 20-point mark for the first time with 8:13 left in the opening half.
Illinois continued to add to its advantage. Scoring 50 points within the first 15 minutes of play, the Orange and Blue pieced together another long run, this time a 12-2 stretch, to lengthen their lead to 30 points, 52-22, with just under five minutes to go before halftime.
Allowing only two field goals over the final four minutes, Illinois closed the frame on a 5-0 run, which sent the sides into the break with the visitors in front, 60-32.
The Illini dominated in all facets across the opening 20 minutes of play, highlighted by a 29-18 edge on the boards, a 10-4 margin on the offensive glass, and 17 second-chance points. The team’s European duo of Ivisic and Jakucionis led the way offensively, with Ivisic posting 15 points, eight rebounds, and two 3-pointers in the first half, while Jakucionis found his groove early with a game-high 19 points and three treys.
The Hoosiers began the second half with a 10-0 run, cutting their deficit below 20 for the first time in nearly 10 minutes of game action.
A 17-3 run from the away side brought the Orange and Blue’s edge up to 81-51 with just over eight minutes remaining in the contest. Gibbs-Lawhorn registered five points during that stretch, bringing him into double figures, while Boswell also scored five points during those four minutes.
The Illini’s lead eventually climbed as high as 31 late in the contest as the Orange and Blue picked up their third Big Ten road win of the campaign.
Sitting at 13-4 overall and 5-2 in conference play, No. 19 Illinois remains on the road to take on No. 12 Michigan State on Sunday. The opening tipoff is slated for 11 a.m. CT on CBS.
HIGHLIGHTS
POSTGAME NOTES
Player Notes:
- Kylan Boswell scored a game-high 22 points and added seven rebounds, two assists and three steals.
- His 22 points marked a career-high effort and his first 20-point game as an Illini
- Scored in double-figures in back-to-back games and for the 11th time this season.
- Grabbed at least seven rebounds for the sixth time this season.
- Recorded at least three steals for the third-straight game.
- His 22 points marked a career-high effort and his first 20-point game as an Illini
- Kasparas Jakucionis scored 21 points to go with three rebounds and five assists.
- Recorded his seventh 20-point game of the season and his first since Dec. 22 vs. Missouri.
- Scored in double-figures for his team-leading 13th time
- Has recorded 10+ points in 10 consecutive games played
- His seven 20-point games are tied with Ayo Dosunmu for the most by an Illinois freshman in the Brad Underwood era, and are one away of the overall Illinois freshman record set by Cory Bradford as a redshirt freshman in 1998-99.
- Returned to the starting lineup after missing the Illini’s previous two games with a left forearm injury
- Opened the game by scoring eight of the Illini’s first 10 points and assisted the team’s other basket – a Tomislav Ivisic layup – over the first 3 minutes.
- Connected on his first five field goals, including his first three 3-pointers.
- Has at least five assists in three-straight games.
- Recorded his seventh 20-point game of the season and his first since Dec. 22 vs. Missouri.
- Tomislav Ivisic scored 17 points, grabbed 11 rebounds, dished out four assists and blocked one shot.
- Posted his seventh double-double of the season and first since Dec. 22 vs. Missouri.
- Recorded his first double-digit scoring game since Dec. 29 vs. Chicago State, his 11th game of the season with 10+ points.
- Secured double-digit rebounds for the ninth time this season.
- Tallied his third game this season with at least four assists.
- Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn came off the bench to score 12 points.
- Scored in double figures for the second-straight game, matching a season-long streak, and for the fifth time overall this season.
- Knocked down multiple 3-pointers for the second straight game and the fourth time this season.
- Morez Johnson Jr. came off the bench to score five points while securing 10 rebounds.
- Posted his second double-digit rebound performance in his last three games and for the fourth time overall this season.
Team Notes:
- Starting lineup: Kylan Boswell, Ben Humrichous, Tomislav Ivisic, Kasparas Jakucionis, Tre White
- Illinois’ 94 points are the most ever scored by a visiting team at Assembly Hall in a regulation game, and the second-most overall behind Penn State’s effort in a 110-102 triple-overtime loss on Feb. 1, 2017.
- Illinois’ 25-point victory is the second-largest defeat ever for the Hoosiers at Assembly Hall behind a 32-point loss, 78-46, to Wisconsin on Feb. 25, 2010.
- The win marked Illinois’ largest margin of victory in a road game at Indiana, breaking the record set exactly 69 years ago when the Illini earned a 96-72 road win over the Hoosiers at The Fieldhouse.
- The win is Illinois’ largest at IU’s Assembly Hall, surpassing the team’s 17-point victory, 74-57, on Feb. 5, 2022.
- Brad Underwood improves to 74-33 (.692) in Big Ten play since 2019-20, the winningest mark in the conference in that span.
- Underwood improves to 32-22 (.593) in Big Ten road games since 2019-20, the conference’s best road record during that span.
- Underwood improves to 7-6 against Indiana in his career.
- The Illini have won three of their last four matchups at Assembly Hall.
- Illinois tied a season-high with 60 points in the first half, matching the team’s output from the opening period vs. Chicago State on Dec. 29.
- Illinois out-rebounded Indiana 51-37, marking the 15th time this season that the Illini have won the battle on the glass.
- The +14 margin is the 11th time this season the Illini have had a double-digit advantage on the boards this season.
- Illinois also held a 16-8 advantage on o-boards, scoring 19 second-chance points.
- The Illini held the Hoosiers to just 4-for-18 from beyond the arc.
- Indiana missed their first 13 attempts from deep.
- Illinois has held Indiana to 4-for-27 from 3 over the last two meetings.
- The Orange and Blue have held opponents to 11-for-44 (.250) from beyond the arc over the last three games.
- Indiana missed their first 13 attempts from deep.
- Illinois has won three consecutive Big Ten road games – at #9 Oregon, at Washington, and at Indiana – for the first time since victories at Nebraska, at Minnesota, and at Wisconsin in January 2023.
- Illinois committed just six turnovers tonight, a season-low mark in Big Ten play.
First appeared on fightingillini.com