CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — Giorgi Bezhanishvili found a unique way to relay the importance of Illinois' performance Wednesday night against Minnesota.
"Ayo's got a birthday tomorrow," the 6-foot-9 freshman said, placing an arm around fellow freshman Ayo Dosunmu. "This was the birthday gift for him."
It was a much-needed present not only for Dosunmu, but for the Illini as a whole.
Dosunmu produced 23 points and Bezhanishvili added 20 points as Illinois used one of its best first halves this season to defeat the Golden Gophers 95-68 and end a five-game skid.
The Illini (5-12, 1-5 Big Ten) piled up 51 points in the opening 20 minutes — their second-best output thus far — on the back of hot shooting and a strong glass presence.
"We were in every game we played in conference so far," Dosunmu said. "So it was great to finally get that monkey off your back."
The Golden Gophers (13-4, 3-3) hadn't permitted more than 44 points in a first period when they arrived at State Farm Center. They led for just 28 seconds versus Illinois.
"It was a night that a lot of things started to click," second-year Illinois coach Brad Underwood said. "I couldn't be happier for our locker room."
The Illini's second-leading scorer as a freshman, Dosunmu potted 15 points before halftime.
Fellow freshman Bezhanishvili tallied 14 points and five boards prior to reaching the locker room. Both marks exceeded his full-game averages.
Backing the college newcomers were Trent Frazier with 15 points and Andres Feliz with 10 points as Illinois shot 56.1 percent from the field.
Minnesota, which lost for the second time in its last three bouts, received 17 points from Daniel Oturu and 11 points from Jordan Murphy.
"Credit to (the Illini): They were really good, and we were really bad," Gophers coach Richard Pitino said. "We took a major step backward today."
STAT OF THE NIGHT
The Gophers possessed a plus-5.7 rebounding margin entering the evening, but Illinois recorded a 39-26 edge in that department.
That included Bezhanishvili pulling down six offensive boards among his team-best eight total snags.
"We just tried to outrebound them," Bezhanishvili said. "That was our goal. We accomplished that, and that was great."
LETDOWN
Illinois quieted Amir Coffey's offensive production in a significant way.
Minnesota's junior guard managed just nine points on 2-of-13 shooting. Not only was Coffey the Gophers' top scorer at 16.4 points per contest, he also paced the Big Ten in that category entering Wednesday.
"For some reason, when we've been bad, we've been really bad," Pitino said. "If you're not physically competing every single possession, you're going to get beat, and it was a good lesson for us."
UP NEXT
Illinois travels to No. 23 Iowa on Sunday (Noon CT on BTN).
ILLINOIS POSTGAME NOTES
TEAM NOTES
• Illinois moved to 123-67 all-time against Minnesota, including a 72-19 record in Champaign.
• Illinois' 27-point win over Minnesota is tied for the fourth-largest by the Illini in the 190-game history against the Gophers.
• Largest margins of victory against Minnesota
36, 2/11/1988 (86-50)
33, 3/9/2016 (85-52)
29, 2/10/1940 (60-31)
27, 1/16/2019 (95-68)
27, 2/8/1990 (99-72)
27, 1/5/1984 (80-53)
• Illinois' 95 points against Minnesota were its most in a regulation Big Ten game since beating Minnesota 96-90 on Jan. 14, 1997.
• Illinois is the only team this year to beat Minnesota in football, men's basketball and women's basketball.
• Illinois scored a season-high 52 points in the paint.
» Illinois had a season-high 22 fast break points.
• Illinois' 26 points off turnovers tied for its second most this season (32 vs. Evansville).
• The 27-point win is Illinois' largest margin of victory against a Big Ten opponent since January 30, 2018 (vs. Rutgers, W, 90-61).
• Illinois led by 23 points at halftime (51-28), marking the Illini's largest halftime lead in a Big Ten game since leading Northwestern 47-24 on Jan. 6, 2011.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
• Freshman guard Ayo Dosunmu scored 23 points on 9-of-13 shooting against Minnesota, his fourth 20+ point game in the last five games. Dosunmu is averaging 21.0 points per game in the last five games, while shooting 55 percent (40-73).
• Freshman forward Giorgi Bezhanishvili scored 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting, his second-highest scoring game of the season (22 at Notre Dame). Bezhanishvili had a +/- of +39 in 29 minutes and added a season-high six offensive rebounds.
