CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- No. 22/22 Illinois returned to the win column via an all-around strong scoring effort from the starting five, taking down Michigan State, 86-76, at State Farm Center on Sunday evening. Four different Illini finished in double figures in the double-digit victory.
Illinois improved to 17-5 overall and 7-4 in Big Ten games with its first win over the Spartans since 2014, while the Illini are 10-2 at home this season.
The Illini forced 10 steals in the win, their third game with double-digit steals, while they shot a season-best 95.8% (23-for-24) from the free-throw line.
Illinois out-rebounded Michigan State, 36-27, including 10 offensive boards, and the Illini notched 14 second-chance points of those rebounds.
"At the end of the day, we got back to our identity about finding ways to win, making plays when we had to, and showing some toughness when we had to," said head coach Shauna Green. "This was a much, much, much-needed win in response to the Purdue loss, so just really happy with our performance and with our fight."
Adalia McKenzie did just about everything in the win, securing her fourth double-double of the season with 14 points and 11 rebounds. McKenzie also recorded a season-high six assists, and her team-high five steals is her best mark since Nov. 26.
Makira Cook played all 40 minutes and continued her strong run of form with a team-high 26 points, her 10th game this season with at least 20 points. Cook went 10-for-10 from the free-throw line and was pivotal in sealing the win late in the fourth quarter, while she also registered four rebounds, two assists, and two steals.
Genesis Bryant recorded 21 points, her 11th consecutive game in double figures. Bryant scored 11 points in the fourth quarter, knocked down all eight of her free throws, grabbed four rebounds, dished out three assists, and made two steals.
Kendall Bostic finished with 10 points and nine rebounds, and she made her presence felt in the paint on both ends of the floor. Bostic also extended her streak with at least one block to 14 games.
Jayla Oden added six points off the bench, all of which came at the start of the second quarter. Brynn Shoup-Hill tallied seven points and hit a 3-pointer for the 12th time in her last 13 games.
McKenzie provided a spark for the Illini to open the game, scoring the team's first six points as the two sides traded baskets early. Neither side led by more than four points early, and five points from Shoup-Hill helped the Illini keep pace with the Spartans. Through 10 minutes of play, Illinois trailed by three, though the Illini grabbed two steals in the opening frame.
Oden registered the Illini's first six points of the second half, with the final point kick-starting a 10-0 Illinois run over a four-minute stretch to put the hosts ahead by six. After the Spartans cut their deficit in half, the Illini used a 9-0 run to pull ahead by 12 points, and they eventually went into the break leading 37-29.
Cook led all scorers with 10 first-half points, while McKenzie grabbed two steals and Bryant knocked down two 3-pointers in the opening 20 minutes of play.
Cook and Bostic combined to score 14 of Illinois' 24 third-quarter points, and the Illini converted all 10 of their free throws in the frame to head into the final period of play leading by nine points. Illinois strung together two 4-0 runs and a 6-0 run during the third quarter and held a 61-52 advantage with 10 minutes remaining.
The Illini began the fourth quarter with a 5-0 run to take a game-high 14-point lead just over one minute into the frame. Michigan State cut its deficit as small as four points, but Illinois hit its free throws late and did enough to thwart the comeback attempt to clinch the victory.
Illinois (17-5, 7-4) hits the road in its next game, heading north to Ann Arbor to take No. 13/17 Michigan (17-5, 7-4) on Thursday night at 5:30 p.m. CT.
QUOTES
Shauna Green
Opening statement:
"I'm just really proud of these guys and the way they bounced back. Just a really solid game. It wasn't perfect. It wasn't pretty at all times, but at the end of the day, we got back to our identity about finding ways to win, making plays when we had to, and showing some toughness when we had to. Hopefully we learned a lot from that Purdue game. The last few days have been two of our better days of practice in terms of energy and just attention to detail and focus. Unfortunately, it's like life, right? You can keep telling them stuff, but you keep winning and then all of a sudden, you're like, 'Oh, shoot, we lost.' Now everyone's ears are a little bit more open, and they're like, 'OK, we want to get back,' so I credit them. The leadership that they showed the last couple a couple of days and also today on the floor. This was a much, much, much-needed win in response to the Purdue loss, so just really happy with our performance and with our fight."
On McKenzie's resurgent, bounce-back performance:
"Yeah, I was hoping that, and I felt it. I also really believe when you get in the gym, and you just work, and you're very intentional of working on certain things that you know you have to get better at, those reps and that gym time gives you confidence. When you have confidence, you're a totally different player. You saw that from the very beginning. It's kind of crazy because in two workouts in two days, we worked on some stuff, and in that first quarter, she put everything we worked on into play. We also really worked on our free throws, and she made those.Â
"For me to be able to be on the floor and getting those individual workouts in with just you and the kid, it also builds some of that trust within each other. She knows that I trust her with everything, and I believe in her. I'm just so happy for her. You want her to be successful in everything that she does because she's just one of those kids. She wants it so bad, and she's just such a great person, so I could not be more happy for her."
On avoiding back-to-back losses:
"It's kind of our mindset. Unfortunately, when you lose, it gets their attention. They're very, very aware. We just really preach the bounce-back and the response; it's what we preach all the time. What action are you going to take? Get back to what we do, what we do works because we've had success when we do it, and that's the message we're giving them. Give our team credit that they're listening, and they're able to again put it into action. We can sit here and talk about everything, but you got to go out and execute and act. We've been able to bounce back after all those losses. It kind of is nice with our schedule. I think it works out that we have a home game, then you have a tough game. We'll have another home game, and hopefully you can continue to protect home court, which is really, really big, especially in the Big Ten."
On Jayla Oden's impact and positive bench minutes:
"I thought that was great. I loved it. She's just had really good energy the last few days in practice. She's been really aggressive, and that's what we need from her. I thought she was really solid in eight minutes and six points, and that's what we're talking about with bench points. I thought Jada was really solid in 11 minutes. That jumper was really big when she got in the game, but more importantly, she was solid defensively. I actually thought the bench was really solid in their minutes, and it really helped us a lot."
Genesis Bryant
On the 5,000+ attendance and feeding off crowd energy:
"It's just good to have that energy and how loud they get at certain moments of the game. When we needed a score or we needed a stop, the crowd was just amazing. It really helped us today."
On the team's season-best free-throw percentage (95.8%):
"We really just practice them so much and so often. It's kind of just a routine. Free throws are just a mental thing, and I thought we were all in the right head space to knock them down."
Adalia McKenzie
On the keys to having a bounce-back game:
"My focus and confidence. I'm surrounded by great people. They're always pushing me to do my best, but as a team, we're always together and just always having that bounce-back mentality."
POST-GAME NOTES
Player Notes:
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Kendall Bostic notched 10 points, recording double-digit points for the ninth time this season.
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Genesis Bryant scored 21 points and tallied four rebounds.
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Scored in double figures for the 18th time this season.
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Posted 20-plus points for the fifth time this year.
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Went 8-for-8 from the foul line.
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Makira Cook paced the team in scoring for the seventh time this year, scoring 26 points.
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Led the Illini with 10 points in the first half
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Scored double digits for the 19th time this year and 47th time in her career.
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Posted her 10th 20-point performance this season.
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Shot 10-10 from the charity stripe.
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Played all 40 minutes for the third time this year.
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Brynn Shoup-Hill went 3-4 from the floor and 1-1 from beyond the arc.
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Adalia McKenzie recorded a double-double with 14 points and 11 boards.
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Scored the first six points of the game for the Illini.
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Posted double figure scoring for the 17th time during her sophomore campaign and 29th in her career.
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Recorded double-digit rebounds for the fourth time this year.
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Double-double marked the fourth of her career.
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Dished out a season-high six assists.
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Tied her career-best with five steals.
Team Notes:
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Illinois struck first as Adalia McKenzie connected for a layup 42 seconds into play.
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Four players scored in double figures.Â
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Illinois took the lead after a Genesis Bryant 3-pointer with 5:49 remaining in the second quarter and never looked back.
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Led by as many as 14 points with 8:54 left in the game
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Shot 95.8 percent from the charity stripe (23-of-24)
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Best percentage this season.
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Tied for the most foul shots made this season (23 vs McNeese State, Nov. 16).
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Scored 80 or more points for the 11th time this season.
Misc Notes:
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Starters: Makira Cook, Genesis Bryant, Adalia McKenzie, Brynn Shoup-Hill, Kendall Bostic for the eighth-straight game. Illinois is now 6-3 with this unit.
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The Illini moved to 17-5 on the season.Â
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Illinois moves to 7-4 in Big Ten play.
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Illinois is 10-2 in home games this season.
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The Illini moved to 16-1 when leading at the half.
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Shauna Green is now:
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Against Michigan State record: 29-45 (74th meeting)
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Uniforms: Illinois is now 10-1 when wearing white uniforms.
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Night game record: Illinois is now 7-2 in games played after 5 p.m.
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Third time this season attendance has surpassed 5,000.
