No. 14 Illinois Takes Care of Business in Dominant Home Win Over Michigan

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – No. 14 Illinois trailed for only 10 seconds and completed the regular-season sweep over Michigan with a resounding 97-68 home win over the Wolverines at State Farm Center on Tuesday night.

Leading by as many as 37, the Fighting Illini have now won eight consecutive games against the Wolverines, the third-longest winning streak in series history, while the Orange and Blue shot 56% from the field and 48% from beyond the arc in the 29-point home victory.

Ten Illini players recorded points, four Orange and Blue scorers finished in double figures, and the hosts totaled a season-high 22 fast-break points.

Terrence Shannon Jr. led the way with a team-high 31 points, which marked his 10th game this season with at least 20 points and his third contest with at least 30 points. Shannon went a perfect 5-for-5 on 3-point attempts in a six-minute span between the first and second halves, and he ended his night with five triples, his most in conference play this season. Going 11-for-15 from the field, he also totaled three rebounds, three assists, and one block.

Coleman Hawkins clinched double-digit points for the seventh time in his last eight games, recording 17 points while going 50% from 3-point range. Hawkins made three 3-pointers while shooting 60% from the field, and he also racked up five rebounds, five assists, and two blocks.

Marcus Domask reached double figures for the 15th game in a row, pouring in 13 points against the Wolverines. Knocking down a 3-pointer for a season-high sixth straight outing, Domask also accumulated two rebounds and three assists.

Quincy Guerrier went a perfect 4-for-4 from the field in the win with his 15th double-digit scoring performance of the campaign. Guerrier notched 10 points and rattled in two triples, and he also grabbed seven rebounds.

Ty Rodgers scored the Illini's first four points of the night and finished with six points, two rebounds, three assists, and one steal.

Justin Harmon added eight points off the bench, his most since Jan. 21 against Rutgers. He also grabbed three rebounds, including two on the offensive glass. 

The Illini's first four points of the night came from Rodgers, who opened the scoring from the free-throw line before getting his floater to fall just over one minute later. The Orange and Blue's next six points came from beyond the arc, with Hawkins and Domask both connecting from deep to give the hosts a 10-7 advantage five minutes into the contest. An offensive rebound from Domask set up a second-chance layup for Hawkins, a basket that gave the Illini a 12-9 edge at the first media timeout.

Hawkins' bucket sparked a 12-2 Illini run over the next four minutes, which put the home side in front by double digits at the halfway point in the opening period of play. Hawkins recorded his second block during that stretch, while four of the Illini's five starters tallied a basket to give Illinois a 22-11 lead.

Guerrier got his first points of the night three minutes later, which ended a 6-2 run for the Wolverines to put the Orange and Blue back in front by double digits. Shannon accounted for the Illini's next seven points, making two 3-pointers from the right wing. 

With Illinois holding a 31-27 lead with four minutes to play, the home side closed the frame on a 16-2 run. Shannon accounted for 11 points during that stretch, while Goode knocked down his first trey to send Illinois into the break with a 47-29 advantage.

After starting 0-for-2 on 3-point attempts, Shannon connected on his final four shots from deep to register a team-high 19 points in the first half. The Illini went 8-for-14 from beyond the arc through the first 20 minutes, with five different players recording a triple prior to the intermission. The Orange and Blue dished out 11 assists on their 18 first-half field goals, led by Hawkins' five helpers before halftime.

The Illini used the first 60 seconds of the second half to go on a 6-0 run, which included Hawkins' second trey of the day and an and-1 layup from Shannon. The Illini continued to add onto their lead with Shannon's fifth triple and Hawkins' third trey, which brought him into double figures, to bring the Orange and Blue edge to 59-34.

Holding the Wolverines without a field goal for nearly three minutes, the Illini took advantage by going on an 8-1 run, which saw Shannon scored half of the team's point during that stretch. Three-and-a-half minutes later, Illinois pieced together an 11-2 scoring run that included five points from Guerrier, whose 3-pointer brought him into double figures.

Domask and Harmon combined for the Illini's next eight points, which helped the Orange and Blue grow their lead to as many as 37 points with six minutes to play. The Illini closed out the victory over the final few minutes to secure their ninth conference victory of the season. 

No. 14 Illinois (18-6, 9-4 B1G) begins a two-game road trip this weekend, traveling east for a rematch with Maryland on Saturday evening. The Illini's tipoff with the Terrapins from the XFINITY Center in College Park, Md., is slated for 4:30 p.m. CT and will air on Fox.

HIGHLIGHTS

PRESS CONFERENCE

POSTGAME NOTES

PLAYER NOTES

• Terrence Shannon Jr. scored a game-high 31 points and had three rebounds and three assists.
  • Recorded his third 30-point performance of the season.
    • Became the eighth Illini in program history to have at least three 30 point games in a season.
    • Recorded his team-leading 10th game of the season with 20+ points.  
    • Reached double-figures scoring with 3:56 to go in the first half, and posted 19 points by halftime.
    • Has scored in double figures in 28 straight contests dating back to Jan. 31, 2023.
  • Went 11-for-15 from the field, a season-high in makes and a season-best .733 shooting percentage mark.
    • Second game this season with double-digit field goals.
  • Went 5-for-8 from beyond the arc tonight.
    • Hit multiple 3-pointers for his fourth-straight game and his 13th time overall this season.
      • Second game this season with at least five 3-pointers.
• Coleman Hawkins scored 17 points, grabbed five rebounds and five assists.
  • Scored in double figures for the third-straight contest.
  • Went 3-from-6 from beyond the arc, his third-straight game with multiple 3-pointers.
    • Seventh game this season with at least three 3-pointers.
  • Third-straight game with five or more assists.
    • Longest such streak of the season.
  • Recorded two blocks in the game, his seventh game of the season with multiple rejections.
• Marcus Domask scored 13 points while adding two rebounds and three assists.
  • Scored in double figures for the 15-straight game.
• Quincy Guerrier scored 10 points and secured seven rebounds.
  • Went a perfect 4-for-4 from the field, including 2-for-2 from deep.
    • Was his sixth game of the season with multiple 3-pointers.
• Justin Harmon came off the bench to score eight points and grab three rebounds.
  • Went 4-for-6 from the floor.
  • Two of his rebounds came on the offensive glass.
• Dain Dainja scored four points and secured six rebounds, coming off of the bench to do so.
• Max Williams recorded the first points of his Illinois career, knocking down a pair of free throws late in the second half.

TEAM NOTES

• The Illini improve to 64-29 (.688) in league games over the last four-and-a-half seasons, the winningest mark in the Big Ten.
• Illinois has now won eight-straight games over Michigan, its longest streak since the series-record 11 straight wins from Feb. 9, 2000 through Jan. 14, 2006.
  • Won both matchups this season by an average margin of victory of 22 points.
• Brad Underwood improves to 8-2 against Michigan in his Illini career.
• Illinois went 36-for-64 (.562) from the floor, its fourth-best shooting percentage mark of the season.
• The Illini went 12-for-25 from 3-point range and have connected on at least six 3-pointers in each of their last 19 games.
  • The Illini knocked down 10+ 3-pointers for the ninth time this season.
    • Second game this season with at least 12 makes.
  • Second-best shooting performance from deep this season (.480).
• The Illini closed out the first half on a 16-2 run over the final 3:56, including a quick 6-0 run over the final 48 seconds of the half.
  • Went 4-for-5 on 3-pointers during that stretch.
• The Illinois defense held Michigan without a field goal for a stretch of 5:12 in the second half.
• The Illini held the Wolverines to 1-for-10 from 3-point land, the second time this season they've held an opponent to one 3-pointer or fewer.
  • The Illini held the Wolverines to going 0-for-3 from beyond the arc the first half, the first time all season Michigan has not knocked a 3-pointer in the first half of a game.
  • It is the first time that Michigan has been held to just one three-pointer since Illinois also did so on Jan. 14, 2022.
  • Illinois held Michigan to 4-for-23 (17.4 %) from deep combined in both matchups this season.
• Illinois out-rebounded Michigan 38-29, the 18th time this season that the Illini have won the rebounding battle.
  • The Illini scored 13 second-chance points on nine offensive rebounds.
• The Illini assisted 17 times on 36 field goals, the third-straight contest Illinois has double-digit assists.
• Illinois had a 22-8 advantage in fast break points, a new season-high mark in that category.
• The Illini bench outscored their Wolverine counterparts, 20-15.
• Illinois' 97 points were its most in a conference game since totaling 98 in a 98-81 win over Penn State on Dec. 23, 2020.