Hawkins Guides Illinois To Win, SIUE Drops Loss

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Coleman Hawkins took over State Farm Center Friday night in his second straight start, notching his first career double-double. Hawkins was all over the floor against Arkansas State and finished with 17 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and four blocks. Jacob Grandison and Trent Frazier added 15 and 12 points, respectively, to push the Fighting Illini (2-0) to a 92-53 win over the Red Wolves (1-1) and 12 points, respectively, to push the Fighting Illini (2-0) to a 92-53 win over the Red Wolves (1-1).

Hawkins was hot from the jump against the Red Wolves, scoring the first basket of the game on an alley oop from Andre Curbelo. After a couple layups and trips to the free-throw line, Hawkins kept the energy up off the ball. Around the six-minute mark, Hawkins grabbed an offensive rebound and made the putback, drew a charge, blocked a shot, assisted a Grandison three-pointer then had another block, all within a minute of game action.

"I thought Coleman Hawkins had as good of spurt in the first half with effort as I've seen maybe in my time here," head coach Brad Underwood said. "One of the things I pay a lot of attention to are fouls drawn. He drew 10 fouls tonight. That's a sign of tremendous effort and activity."

Illinois' effectiveness on the boards was an all-around effort. The Illini won the rebounding battle again by double digits and grabbed 24 offensive rebounds which led to 25 second-chance points. Along with Hawkins, Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk had a big game in the paint with 10 rebounds.

The Illini jumped out to another strong start defensively, allowing just four points in the first seven minutes. Six different Illini scored during that period, including dunks from Hawkins and Omar Payne off Curbelo assists, and a three from Trent Frazier, his first of the season.

"We're really trying hard to control what our effort is every single day and every single night out," Underwood said. "We can guard, we've got guys who are very, very good defenders. RJ (Melendez) came in there in that second half and that's how I base freshman's playing times is what they do defensively. So we're getting better, we're trying. It's one of the things we keep telling the guys, offense wins games, defense wins championships. Where we want to go, we've gotta guard. This was a much better team than anyone we've faced and we held them to less than five three's, dominated the glass against a team I think at the end of the year will be an NCAA Tournament team."

While the Red Wolves countered with a 12-2 run midway through the half, Grandison and Curbelo each put up four points in the next few minutes.

But with over five minutes left in the half, the Illini went on a tear on both ends of the court. Illinois ended the half on an 18-2 run, forcing four turnovers and a three-minute scoring drought. Another series of layups and offensive rebounds from Hawkins combined with a tough defensive stand from Frazier put Illinois up 48-26 at halftime.

The second half featured more offensive runs for the Illini. While Arkansas State put up a quick four points to open the period, jumpers from Bosmans-Verdonk, Curbelo and Frazier kept the Wolves in the distance.

Grandison and Frazier continued to score consistently, but Brandon Lieb and Luke Goode both got in the mix off the bench with back-to-back layups.
Illinois' offense lit up State Farm Center a couple more times with dunks from Payne, Bosmans-Verdonk and RJ Melendez along with a three from Alfonso Plummer who was 2–4 from behind the arc.

Frazier's defense was instrumental for the Illini as he helped lock down Arkansas State's Desi Sills who scored 21 points in the team's opener. Sills was held to just eight points on 3-13 shooting from the field.

"(Frazier) is elite, I've been saying it for two and a half, three years. He is elite," Underwood said. "He never gets screened. You want him on the ball and you get a shooter and they start running him off screens, he never gets screened. He's always right there. They may make one because they jump over him. And then he never fatigues, he never gets tired. It takes your soul, when you see him guarding you and you think, 'oh man, I got him,' and no, there he is right there. He's just that guy and he takes so much pride."

The Illini will hit the road for the first time this season when they travel to Marquette on Monday. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT.

Postgame Notes

• Illinois won its seventh straight game at State Farm Center.

• Illinois broke the game open late in the first half, closing with an 18-2 run over the final six minutes to turn a 30-24 lead into a 48-26 advantage at the break.

• Illinois grabbed 24 offensive rebounds, its second-highest total in a game since at least the 2010-11 season, and most since collecting 25 vs. Longwood 12/13/17.

• Illinois' total of 56 rebounds also marked its second-most in a game since at least the 2010-11 season, trailing only its 58 boards vs. North Carolina A&T in last year's opener (11/25/20).

• Sophomore Coleman Hawkins recorded his first career double-double, setting career highs with 17 points and 12 rebounds (6 offensive). Those surpassed his previous career bests of 13 points and 8 boards set three days ago in the season opener vs. Jackson State.

• Hawkins also set career highs with 4 blocked shots and 4 assists.

• Senior Jacob Grandison reached double figures for the second straight game with 15 points. He is now averaging 17.5 points through two games.

• Sophomore Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk set a career high with 8 points and equaled his career high in rebounding, grabbing 10 boards for the second consecutive game.

• Senior guard Trent Frazier and sophomore point guard Andre Curbelo both returned to action after missing the opener. Frazier netted 12 points while Curbelo had 8 points and game-high 7 assists.

 

Chicago State 67, SIUE 56

CHICAGO – SIUE struggled to find its shooting touch Friday, falling to Chicago State 67-56 at the Jones Convocation Center.

"We came into the game down a few guys, but we have enough on our team," SIUE Head Coach Brian Barone said. "I believe in these guys and our depth."

After shooting near-50 percent in its opener, SIUE connected on just 15-48 (31 percent) shots. SIUE was 5-28 from three-point range, including knocking down just one of 15 three-point attempts in the second half.

"As a team we forced too many shots," Barone said. "That hurt us in our percentage."

Chicago State was 23-49 overall and 7-20 from three-point range, but successful on five of nine long-range shots in the second half. Chicago State outrebounded SIUE 33-22 and scored 13 second-chance points.

"When you give up baseline out of bounds baskets, you give up 50-50 balls, you miss free throws and you go 5-28 from three it's hard to win a road game against a team that plays with as much passion as Chicago State does," Barone added.

After trailing 27-23 at halftime, SIUE opened the second period strong, scoring the first seven points to lead 30-27 just three minutes into the half. SIUE lead 33-31 when Chicago State made a push. A 10-0 run gave the home Cougars all the momentum they would need. SIUE got as close as three (55-52) with 4:00 left, but another runs, this time 10-1 by Chicago State pushed the game out of reach with a 12-point lead and under a minute to play.

Ray'Sean Taylor set a new career high, scoring a game-high 24 points on 6-of-13 shooting. He was 9-11 at the free throw line.

"Ray'Sean did a good job in a variety of areas," Barone said.  

Sean Doss, Jr. scored 10 points and led SIUE with seven rebounds. Shamar Wright added eight points and Lamar Wright scored seven.

Bryce Johnson (17) and Brandon Betson (16) led Chicago State, which improved to 2-0 for the year.

SIUE finished its season-opening trip 0-2 and returns to First Community Arena to open the home season Monday night.

"We have an opportunity to play on Monday-this team needs to play on Monday," Barone said. "We need to regroup and look within ourselves and see what our next step is as a team. I am excited about that.

"I don't just say I believe in this team because it is the right thing to say," he continued. "I truly believe in this team. And at the end of this week, we're going to believe in ourselves and each other even more because of the way we respond."