Highlights | Press Conference | Photo Gallery | Box Score (PDF)
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Illinois dominated in its resounding 103-65 win over Monmouth at State Farm Center on Monday night in a career-best night for multiple Illini guards.
Terrence Shannon Jr. recorded a game-high and career-best 30 points in the win, while Jayden Epps registered a career-high 21 points in their third regular-season contest with the Illini.
Illinois led by as many as 44 in the victory, holding a lead for nearly the entire game. After Shannon opened the scoring with a 3-pointer 13 seconds into the game, the Illini never looked back.
Dain Dainja notched 15 points off the bench, his third straight game in double figures.
The Illini forced 24 turnovers and made 11 steals in the 38-point victory.
Illinois jumped out to an 8-0 lead less than one minute into the contest, with Shannon, RJ Melendez, and Skyy Clark all getting involved early. The Illini made their first five field-goal attempts, a run that including four three-pointers, to open up a 14-6 advantage.
Dainja came off the bench and immediately made an impact, scoring eight points, while Shannon continued his hot start to fuel a 31-5 run over a six-and-a-half-minute stretch and open a 31-point lead with seven minutes to play in the opening half.
The Illini shot 76.7 percent from the field and 60 percent from beyond the arc in the first 20 minutes of play, heading into halftime with a 63-33 advantage. Shannon led all scorers with 21, while Epps recorded 15 points off the bench on 75 percent shooting in the first half.
Melendez came out of the break with confidence, notching seven of Illinois' first 12 points as the host's lead climbed to 36 with less than 15 minutes to play.
A 6-0 Illini run over a 63-second stretch, capped off by a Coleman Hawkins steal and emphatic dunk, extended their advantage to 39, 81-42, midway through the final half.
After Monmouth cut its deficit to 35, Illinois used a 7-0 stretch as its lead jumped to 42, while Shannon registered four points on that run to bring him to 30 on the night.
The Illini lead grew as large as 44 in the victory that moved Illinois to 3-0 on the season.
Illinois heads to Las Vegas at the end of the week for the Continental Tire Main Event. The Illini will take on UCLA on Friday at 8:30 p.m. CT to open its weekend.
HIGHLIGHTS
PRESS CONFERENCE
QUOTES
Brad Underwood
Opening statement:
"I liked that a lot better than I liked the one-for-18 start in our previous outing, so I think you can see we spent a little time trying to clean up that side of the ball. Again, got a lot of respect for (head coach) King (Rice) and Monmouth. They're a team that, watching their two games, really guarded. I thought our start got them a little bit on their heels. Terrence was obviously on a different planet. I think he showed why he's one of the best players in the country. The first stat I always look for with him is fouls drawn, and 10 of them is a pretty big number.
"The ball had tremendous energy tonight, and it's something that we have not had. It doesn't have to be perfect execution when you have energy, and we popped the ball around. I think we had one missed two-point field goal in the first half. That's pretty good. Yeah, we got better on that side. I thought, obviously, Jayden Epps, he was our seventh freshman since I've been here to have a 20-point game. That's pretty good. We know, all you guys have followed him in his high school ranks know, he was an elite scorer, and he did that pretty easy. That was pretty effortless for him.
"I loved the stretch in the first half between Dain and Skyy in ball screens. Just an unbelievable segment of execution, of a freshman making the right reads. Dain's an elite finisher, and he finished those plays. That was big progress. Skyy, in high school, went and finished those plays because of his athleticism and his strength. His strength got him those plays, and his decision-making, basketball IQ, made the right pocket passes. Interesting night for Coleman. I put him back in in the first half with two (fouls). It's really hard to play when you don't get in that rhythm. We're going to need to play him at times with two fouls, so I threw him back in there, trying to earn a little trust. We talked about that, but we didn't help Coleman tonight. We still gotta get better. We stood and watched when he's such a trigger for us on the offensive end, and we didn't put him in some very good positions. We didn't cut enough, but we'll continue to work on that.
"All in all, we got better in different segments all of these three games, and now, on Friday night, we get a different challenge and play one of the elite events in college basketball this year with all ranked teams, and all really good players, and really good coaches."
Terrence Shannon Jr.
On the team's improved chemistry:
"We didn't show that at the beginning of the game last game; we started off one-for-18. I felt like we did a better job at the start of this game moving the ball, finding the open man, just playing within the flow of the offense. We shot about 60% from three the first half. We showed improvement and showed how we can respond the next game."
On playing with aggression and drawing fouls:
"I'm either too strong for the opponent or too fast. I just look to make contact and try to finish. I was talking to Coach Fletch, actually, last game, and I said, 'I'm gonna try to lead the nation in fouls drawn and free throws.' That's my goal, and my teammates know when they get the ball out to me in transition, I'll just go to work."
Jayden Epps
On his confidence in his first game compared to now:
"I would say that I just had to get a feel of it, and I realized that playing defense and playing hard, it gets you everything. It opens up everything for you. When you play defense, and you play hard, and you're sharing the ball, and you're out there with a free mind, and just playing for your teammates, everything opens up. It just feels good that way."
On the freshmen and growing more comfortable:
"It's just important for us to keep playing in the flow of the game, and just keep playing hard, and mostly playing defense. That's where the game is just going to come to us at and that's how we're win ultimately. Just playing defense, playing hard, playing together, keep moving the ball on offense, and just letting the game come to us, don't force anything, and I feel like we'll be good."
POSTGAME NOTES
- Illinois has started a season 3-0 for the first time since the 2020-21 season and for the third time in the last six years.
- The Fighting Illini are now 2-0 in the all-time series against Monmouth, with both wins coming at home.
- The Illini scored a season-high 103 points in tonight's game.
- It was the first time since Dec. 18, 2021, vs. St. Francis (PA) that Illinois scored at least 100 points in a game.
- Ten different Illini scored in tonight's game.
- Three players reached double figures, including two with 20 points or more.
- The Illini scored a season-high 63 points in the first half.
- They shot .770 from the floor (23-30), including .600 (9-15) from three.
- They assisted on 15 of 23 baskets with nine different players scoring.
- It was the most points scored in a half by the Illini since scoring 64 in the second half against North Carolina A&T on Nov. 25, 2020.
- Illinois went 14-for-33 (.420) behind the arc in tonight's contest.
- It was the first time since Dec. 18, 2021, vs. St. Francis (PA) that the Illini made at least 14 3-pointers in a game.
- The Fighting Illini have made at least six 3-pointers in all three games this season.
- The Illini bench outscored the Hawks 48 to 29.
- Through three games this season, the Illinois bench has outscored its opponents 120-54.
- The Illini defense forced a season-high matching 24 turnovers in tonight's game.
- They have forced at least 18 turnovers in all three games this season and at least 24 turnovers in two-straight games.
- The Illini scored 30 points off of those turnovers.
- Senior Terrence Shannon Jr. scored a career-high 30 points in tonight's game, with four 3-point field goals made.
- Shannon scored 21 points in 13 first-half minutes.
- He is the first Illini with at least 20 points in a half since Alfonso Plummer poured in 23 points in the first half at Michigan on Feb. 27, 2022.
- The Chicago native has scored at least 20 points in two of three games this season.
- The first Illini to score at least 30 points in a game since Kofi Cockburn (37) on 2/2/2022 vs. Wisconsin.
- Freshman Jayden Epps scored a career-high 21 points.
- Epps poured in 15 first-half points in 11 minutes on 6-for-8 shooting, including 3-for-5 from deep.
- Epps is the first freshman to score at least 20 points in a game since Adam Miller scored 28 vs. North Carolina A&T on Nov. 25, 2020.
- Epps is the seventh freshman of the Underwood era to record a 20-point game.
- Epps is the first Illini to come off the bench and score at least 21 points in a game since Jacob Grandison on Dec. 6, 2021 at Iowa.
- Redshirt sophomore Dain Dainja scored 15 points and added four rebounds.
- Dainja has scored at least 15 points in all three games this season.
- Sophomore RJ Melendez scored a season-high nine points and also grabbed a season-best five rebounds.
