CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — Malcolm Hill scored 22 points to lead Illinois to an 88-74 victory over North Carolina State on Tuesday night in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
When Illinois showed signs of faltering like it had in the past, Hill and other role players like Tracy Abrams (17 points) helped secure the win.
"Really proud of the way the guys responded," Illinois coach John Groce said. "We ratcheted it up to another level (in the second half)."
Illinois (5-3) shot 30 of 60 from the field for 50 percent to outlast N.C. State in what was a tightly contested game in which neither team had a double-digit lead until the Illini led 67-57 with about eight minutes left.
The Wolfpack held a 33-32 edge at the half but Illinois came out firing, shooting 68 percent in the second half and creating large leads that the Wolfpack could not overcome.
The Illini bench outscored the Wolfpack's 39-22 and was led by Leron Black, who scored 15 points and brought in eight rebounds.
Black has only played the last three games before Tuesday (suspension) and noted the adaptation it takes to understand how each player performs.
"We just kind of come together each game. We get used to playing with each other," Black said. "We're just getting better as a team and getting more chemistry."
Torin Dorn scored 17 points to lead N.C. State (5-2), which shot 53 percent from the field.
Despite the hot shooting, the Wolfpack committed 19 turnovers, which prevented the offense to consistently produce and resulted in 17 Illinois points.
"The game was experienced versus inexperienced," N.C. State coach Mark Gottfried said. "I thought we played like an inexperienced team."
For Illinois, the game served as the official dedication game for the renovated State Farm Center, which recently concluded three years of construction upgrades.
Up Next
Illinois travels to Miami on Saturday where it will play VCU in the Hoophall Miami Invitational (2 pm CT on CBS Sports Network).
ILLINOIS POSTGAME NOTES
Team Notes
- The Fighting Illini improved to 4-0 against the Wolfpack with a 88-74 win on Tuesday night. The last meeting between the two teams resulted in an 85-76 victory for the Orange and Blue on Dec. 30, 1995 in the consolation final of the Rainbow Classic in Honolulu.
- Illinois is now 8-10 all-time in the B1G/ACC Challenge and 5-3 in Challenge games Champaign.
- The win for Illinois is the first in the B1G/ACC Challenge since a 75-72 victory over Georgia Tech on Nov. 28, 2012.
- Illinois forced an NC State season-high 19 turnovers.
- The Orange and Blue had a season-high nine steals.
- Illinois had 11 offensive rebounds on Tuesday, the fifth time the Illini have recorded double-digit offensive rebounds this season. The Illini turned that into a 19-8 advantage in second change points.
- The Illini shot 19-28 (67.9%) in the second half against NC State, good for the Illini's best shooting half of the season.
- For the game, Illinois shot 50-percent from the field. It marked the fourth game this season the Illini shot better than 50-percent.
- Illinois scored 56 points in the second half, the highest Illini point total in a half against a Division-I opponent this season.
- The Illini bench scored a season-high 39 points against a Division-I opponent. Leron Black led the way with 15 points off the bench.
Individual Notes
- Graduate student Tracy Abrams had a season-high 17 points, good for his fifth double-figure scoring effort this season and 50th of his career.
- Abrams had a season-high three steals. The mark is the 13th time Abrams has had three-plus steals I a contest.
- Senior Malcolm Hill moved into a tie for 19th place on the Illini all-time scoring list with 22 points tonight. Hill now has 1,393 points in his career.
- The game was Hill's fourth 20+ point game this season and 24th of his career. He also added nine rebounds and four assists, both team highs.
- With 12 free throws made, Hill moved into fourth place in the Illini record books with 406 career free throws made.
- Jalen Coleman-Lands had his 2nd double-digit scoring game of the season with 11 points and 21st of his career.
- Freshman Te'Jon Lucas had a career-high two steals and scored four points in 16 minutes.
- Redshirt-sophomore Leron Black came off the bench to post season-highs in points (15), field goals made (7) and assists (2).
