CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — First year Illinois coach Brad Underwood spent the past week pushing junior forward Michael Finke to shoot the ball more often.
Finke listened.
The budding star scored 22 points and teammate junior guard Aaron Jordan added 16 to lead Illinois over North Carolina Central 86-73 Friday at State Farm Center.
"I barked and got aggressive with Michael all week," Underwood said after the game. "He listened, although I did get mad at him for taking a 3 when we had an easy layup opportunity. But, well, he listened to me."
Reggie Gardner Jr. scored 18 points for N.C. Central, and Zacarry Douglas and Jordan Perkins added 11 points each.
Illinois (6-0) looked lackluster early, allowing the Eagles (2-5) to mount an 8-0 run midway through the first half to take a 35-34 lead at the half. N.C. Central had its own issues early, including turning the ball over on its first two possessions of the game.
Jordan hit a three-pointer less than a minute into the second half, which opened the floodgates for Illinois. He and Finke traded baskets for the next three minutes as the Illini went on an 8-0 run, which proved too much for the Eagles. Finke tossing in a couple of dunks for good measure.
Finke and Jordan were deadly from beyond the 3-point line in the second half. Finke went 5 of 11 from 3, but sank three in the early minutes of the second half that seemed to fire up the Illini's offense. Jordan went 4 of 5 from downtown, with three of them coming during the opening seven minutes of the final half.
Underwood gave sophomore guard Te'Jon Lucas credit for his smothering defense as the second half started.
"Te'Jon made that happen," Underwood said. "He took control in the locker room at halftime and on the floor. Finke and Jordan got the points, but Te'Jon drove the bus tonight."
"Te'Jon's defense really sparked our offense to start that second half," Finke said. "And our teammates found us for the shots."
Despite the win, Underwood and his players weren't thrilled with the team's performance, with Wake Forest and Northwestern waiting in the wings.
"Part of my responsibility is to get the players ready mentally, and I let them down," Underwood said. "We need to step it up before we play the upcoming games on the road. Still, I'm looking forward to the big boy games."
Jordan agreed.
"Tonight, it was poor execution and missed assignments," the junior guard said. "We need to practice hard this week and turn that around, especially with the Power 5 games we have coming up."
Illinois hits the road and will meet Wake Forest on Tuesday in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.
TEAM NOTES
• Illinois is 6-0 for the first time since winning its first six games of the 2014-15 season.
• Illinois scored 52 points in the second half, a season-best, including a season-high seven second-half three-pointers.
• Illinois was 12-of-29 shooting from the three-point line (41.4 percent), a season best for threes made.
• Illinois had 20 assists and 10 turnovers. N.C. Central had 10 assists and 20 turnovers, leading to a 28-10 Illini advantage in points off turnovers.
• The Illini have forced 20+ turnovers in two straight games (29 vs. Augustana and 20 vs. North Carolina Central).
• Illinois had its first 20+ assist game since 1/11/17 vs. Michigan (21)
• Illinois trailed at the half, 35-34.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
• RS Junior forward Michael Finke scored a season-high 22 points on 8-of-15 shooting, including 5-of-11 shooting from three-point range. His five threes tied a career high (5 vs. Minnesota 3/9/16).
• Over the last two games, Finke is averaging 21.0 points per game on 15-of-26 (57.7 percent) shooting. Finke has shot 52.4 percent (11-21) from three-point range in the last three games.
• Junior guard Aaron Jordan scored 16 points, one away from his career high (17 vs. Southern 11/10/17). Jordan had a career-high six field goals made on just seven attempts. Jordan is 8-of-9 shooting from three-point range in the last two games. His only miss was blocked.
• In six games this season, Jordan is 15-of-23 for behind-the-arc (.652). All of last season (24 games), Jordan was 6-of-20 (.300) from three-point range.
• RS Junior forward Leron Black scored 12 points, his fifth double-digit game of the season. He also had a team-high eight rebounds.
