Illinois Hands Oakland 66-54 Men's Basketball Loss

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Illinois remained undefeated on the season with a gritty 66-54 win over Oakland at State Farm Center on Wednesday night.

Tomislav Ivisic led the Illini in scoring for the second-consecutive contest, tallying a career-high and game-most 20 points on 9-for-14 shooting. Ivisic also made a career-best four steals and corralled six rebounds.

Ben Humrichous recorded multiple 3-pointers and scored in double figures for the third-straight game, finishing with 10 points, six rebounds, and one block.

Kylan Boswell rattled in a season-high two 3-pointers and amassed eight points, two rebounds, two assists, and one steal.

Will Riley and Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn totaled eight points and seven points, respectively, off the bench.

After both teams missed their first two attempts from the field, the Illini used a stretch of four consecutive makes to open up a 9-3 lead within the first four minutes of play. Tre White began that run with a jumper before Ivisic tallied four points and Humrichous knocked down his first 3-pointer of the night.

A 7-2 Illini run shortly after, which included five points from Riley, saw the hosts take a nine-point edge. A 6-0 Illinois scoring stretch following the under-12 media timeout brought the home side's advantage into double digits for the first time.

The Golden Grizzlies answered right back with a 10-0 run to cut their deficit to three points with seven-and-a-half minutes remaining in the first half, but 3-pointers from Kylan Boswell and White gave the Illini a 28-19 edge less than 90 seconds later.

The Illini lead did not reach double digits again in the first half, with Oakland making five straight shots to keep pace with the Orange and Blue. Leading by as many as 13, Illinois went into halftime with a 36-29 advantage.

Seven Illini scored at least two points in the first half, including a game-high 10-point effort for Ivisic across the first 20 minutes of action.

Oakland cut its deficit to just two points early in the second half, but the Illini's lead was not in singles digits for long. An 11-0 Illinois run brought the hosts' advantage up to 53-38 with just over 12 minutes remaining. Five different scorers accounted for points during that stretch, which saw the Illini hold the Golden Grizzlies scoreless for over four minutes.

After a 5-0 Oakland run cut the Illini's lead to 10, Illinois held the Golden Grizzlies without a point for over five minutes but only managed to extend its lead to 57-45. The Orange and Blue went scoreless for nearly five minutes but snapped that streak with a transition dunk from White with three-and-a-half minutes to go.

A late 7-0 run for the Illini helped the hosts take their largest lead of the game, 66-49, and the Orange and Blue closed out the victory to improve to 3-0.

After completing its season-opening three-game homestand, Illinois (3-0) travels to Birmingham, Alabama, for a neutral-site game against #2 Alabama on Nov. 20 at Legacy Arena. The opening tip of the C.M. Newton Classic between the Fighting Illini and Crimson Tide is scheduled for 8 p.m. CT on SEC Network.