CHAMPAIGN (AP) - Leron Black scored a career-high 23 points and snatched eight rebounds Sunday, helping Illinois avoid an early season upset to UT Martin for a 77-74 victory.
Down by three with under a minute to go, the Skyhawks had two chances to tie the game but ultimately came up short.
The Illini led by as much as 19, but the Skyhawks - led by Delfincko Bogan's 23 points and four rebounds - wouldn't go away easily.
Trailing 38-51, UT Martin went on an 11-0 run at the 15:30 mark of the second half, capped off by a lucky bankshot 3-pointer from Matthew Butler that cut the lead to four.
Illinois pushed the margin back up to 15 with 4:34 left, but UT Martin responded once again with a late-game 18-6 run. With 0.7 second left, Butler took a potential game-tying 3-pointer at the buzzer but airballed.
The Illini started off much slower than in their season opener, missing seven of their first 10 shots. But Black found a rhythm early.
He nailed the first basket of the game on a turnaround jumper from the free throw line, and finished the first half with 13 points on 5-6 shooting.
Freshman Mark Smith was Illinois' second leading scorer with 13 points.
The Illini are off to a 2-0 start and host DePaul Friday at 7:30 p.m.
TEAM NOTES
• Illinois is 2-0 for the second straight season.
• Brad Underwood won his first two games as Illinois' head coach. Underwood is 111-27 (.804) in his career as a head coach. He is the 18th head coach of Illinois men's basketball.
• Four Illini scored in double figures (23 Black, 13 Smith, 12 Finke, 10 Jordan).
• Illinois led for 35:59.
• Illinois was 19 of 27 from the free throw line (70.4 percent) after hitting 34 of 37 from the line against Southern (91.9 percent).
INDIVIDUALÂ NOTES
• Redshirt junior F Leron Black had a career-high 23 points. His previous career high was 21 vs. Central Michigan 12/10/16. Black added a game-high eight rebounds.
• Freshman G Mark Smith scored in double figures for the first time in his career, tallying 13 points on 4-of-10 shooting from the field and 5-of-5 shooting from the line.
• Junior F Michael Finke scored in double figures for the second straight game. He had 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting.
• Junior G Aaron Jordan scored in double figures for the second straight game. He had 10 points on 3-of-6 shooting.
