Illini Improve to 3-1, Area College Roundup

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) – The Fighting Illini improved to 3-1 on the season with a 66-53 win over Hawaii Monday night at State Farm Center, kicking off a five-game home stand and first of three games in six days.

Monday night at State Farm Center, kicking off a five-game home stand and first of three games in six days. 

Freshman Kofi Cockburn scored 15 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to lead Illinois. 

Cockburn, a 7-foot freshman from Jamaica, recorded his third double-double in four games this season. Trent Frazier added 13 points, Giorgi Bezhanishvili 10 and Andres Feliz had 10 assists for Illinois (3-1).

Zigmars Raimo led Hawaii (3-2) with 16 points. Eddie Stansberry, the Rainbow Warriors leading scorer (20 points per game) was held to 10 points on 4-of -4 shooting, thanks to the smothering defense of Frazier.

Both teams were cold in the first five minutes, with Illinois going 0 for 7 to start the game. The score was tied at 26 at the half.
Illinois used a 14-2 run late in the game to take control. The Illini were 15 of 23 from the free throw line, while the Rainbow Warriors were only 2 of 3.

Up Next

The Fighting Illini are back at it Wednesday night, Nov. 20, when they host The Citadel (8 pm CT on BTN) in the second game of a five-game homestand. 

Team Notes

• Illinois improved to 3-1, including 2-0 at State Farm Center.

• Illinois went nearly 15 consecutive minutes of the second half without a turnover (17:35-2:44).

• Illinois outrebounded Hawaii, 44-26. The Illini have a +17.25 rebounding margin per game (177-108).

• Illinois held Hawaii to five offensive rebounds and four second-chance points, while grabbing 33 defensive rebounds on Hawaii's end. 

• Illinois outscored Hawaii 40-27 in the second half after the game was tied 26-26 at halftime. 

Player Notes

• Freshman Kofi Cockburn had his third double-double (15 points, 14 rebounds) in the first four games, including tying a season high with 14 rebounds. He had 12 of his points in the second half on 5-of-8 shooting after going 1-for-7 shooting in the first half. 

• Sophomore Giorgi Bezhanishvili had a season-high nine rebounds, one away from tying his career high. 

• Redshirt senior Kipper Nichols had a season-high nine points. He scored four points in the first three games of the season (4 at Arizona).

EIU 114, Indiana Northwest 61

CHARLESTON, Ill. – Eastern Illinois jumped out to a 12-2 lead on Monday evening and the Panthers never looked back as they rolled to their second straight home win with a 114-61 win over Indiana Northwest at Lantz Arena.

EIU improved to 2-2 on the season while IU Northwest is 3-2.  The 114 points are the seventh most in school history and the most scored in a game by the Panthers since Jan. 30, 1988 against Northern Iowa (126-121 loss in 4 overtimes).

Mack Smith drained a couple of early 3-pointers as he scored a team-high 17 points knocking down 3-of-5 from 3-point range and 6-of-9 from the field.  Smith was one of seven Panthers in double figures as EIU had balanced scoring in a blowout win for the second straight game.

George Dixon  and Marvin Johnson both added 16 points with Dixon just missing a double-double with nine rebounds.   EIU pulled out to a 56-31 halftime lead after shooting 51 percent from the floor.

The Panthers warmed up even more in the second half shooting 62 percent as they were 56 percent from the floor on the evening.  Jordan Skipper-Brown had ten of his 15 points in the first-half. 

Josiah Wallace, Dondre Duffus and Kashawn Charles came on in the second half to each finish in double figures. 

In addition to another solid offensive night, the Panthers defense once again turned up the pressure forcing double figure steals for the second straight game. Deang Deang had five steals as EIU finished with 14 as a team.  EIU scored 29 points off of RedHawks turnovers.  Deang also added a team-high eight assists.

Indiana Northwest had two players finish in double figures as Chris Robinson came off the bench to score 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting.  Jason Peace added 16 as the RedHawks shot 34 percent for the night including 4-of-21 from 3-point range for 19 percent.

South Dakota 71, SIUE 56

VERMILLION, S.D. – Three SIUE players scored in double figures but it wasn't enough to overcome a second-half surge from South Dakota as the Coyotes pulled away for a 71-56 win Monday night.

SIUE dropped to 2-3 on the season and 1-2 on the road. South Dakota remained unbeaten at 5-0.

"There are some definite positives that came out of this game," SIUE Head Coach Brian Barone said. "We do a pretty good job of carrying out the game plan. We need to do a better job of sustaining that."

The Cougars stayed tight in the first half, even taking a 14-10 lead with 12:48 to play in the period on a pair of free throws by Mike Adewunmi. South Dakota pushed its lead to seven on several occasions and led 32-27 at halftime.

SIUE closed the lead to two (37-35) on a jumper from Zeke Moore with 16:48 left, but the Coyotes quickly extended it with an 8-0 run to lead 45-35 with 11:32 to play. A 3-pointer from Adewunmi at 9:35 got the Cougars within five (47-42) but they never got any closer.

The Coyotes got a pair of 3-pointers in less than a minute from Brandon Armstrong, the second coming with 2:44 left, to stretch the lead to 14 points.
USD connected on 24-51 (47.1 percent) of its shots. The nation's best 3-point shooting team coming into the game, South Dakota managed just 5-17 shots from long range Monday.

"They were 16-23 (on three-pointers) last game and we did a good job containing them tonight," Barone said. "They actually hurt us in transition more."

Tyler Peterson led South Dakota with a game-high 15 points. Tyler Hagedorn scored 13 points and hauled in 14 rebounds.
Zeke Moore also scored 15 points to lead SIUE. Adewunmi scored 13 points and grabbed six rebounds. Brandon Jackson scored 12 points. The Cougars were 21-56 (37.5 percent) from the field.

"Zeke was aggressive," Barone said. "It was nice to see from him. We'd have a higher shooting percentage if we are just able to take one less dribble and make one extra pass."

South Dakota outrebounded SIUE 36-28. Both teams scored 30 points in the paint.

"I told them I wasn't any less proud of them tonight than I was when we left San Antonio," Barone added.

The game was the first for SIUE as part of the Collegiate Hoops Roadshow Tournament. It continues when SIUE hosts Northern Illinois Saturday. The four-day layoff is one of the longer periods SIUE has had in the early part of the season.

"We have an opportunity to evaluate the last five games," Barone said. "We've had six or seven games in a short amount of time, including our closed scrimmage.

"With a team that is growing, I need to do a better job of making it about ourselves. When we are able to game plan we can steal six or eight points and we have to be able to sustain that," Barone continued.

Tipoff with the Huskies is set for 2 p.m. Saturday at First Community Arena.

"We'll get better," Barone said. "We'll be self-aware and honest with one another and it starts with me."