NEW YORK, N.Y. – Illinois fell to No. 3 Duke, 110-67, on Saturday night in Madison Square Garden in the SentinelOne Classic.
The Illini (17-11) never led in the game, and were unable to keep pace with the Blue Devils (24-3) who recorded season highs for an Illinois opponent in points, field goals (40), field goal percentage (.556), 3-point percentage (.522), rebounds (44) and assists (28).
The Illini struggled to find the mark from beyond the arc, opening the game by missing 17 straight 3-pointers. Illinois finished just 2-for-26 (.077) from 3-point range, the team's worst shooting performance since 2019.
Despite entering the game as one of the nation's top rebounding teams, the Illini were out-boarded by Duke, 44-30. It marked just the sixth game this season in which the Illini lost the battle of the boards.
Four Illini reached double figures led by Tre White, who posted 16 points on efficient 6-for-9 shooting from the field. White and Tomislav Ivisic each knocked down a 3-pointer for the Illini in the second half.
Kasparas Jakucionis added 14 points with a team-high seven rebounds and six assists. It marked Jakucionis' 20th game of the season in double-digits scoring, and his 13th contest with at least five assists.
Kylan Boswell and Ivisic ended with 12 points and 10 points, respectively. Boswell also posted five rebounds, while Ivisic dished out three assists and tied a career mark with three blocks.
Illinois returns home on Tuesday to take on Iowa at 8 p.m. CT (FS1) in State Farm Center.
HIGHLIGHTS
POSTGAME NOTES
Player Notes:
- Kasparas Jakucionis scored 14 points to go along with seven rebounds and six assists.
- Recorded his team-leading 20th double-digit scoring game of the season.
- Moved into the top 10 on Illinois' freshman rebounding list, passing Brian Cook (1999-00) with 145 rebounds on the season.
- 13th game of the season with at least five assists
- First in six games since dishing out seven assists in home win on Feb. 2 vs. Ohio State.
- Notched the first game of his career with multiple blocks.
- Tre White scored 16 points and grabbed five rebounds.
- Led the Illini in scoring for the second time this season (20 at #9 Oregon on Jan. 2).
- Scored in double-figures for the 10th time this season.
- White's first game with 10+ point since Jan. 11 vs. USC.
- Knocked down his first 3-pointers since Jan. 23 vs. Maryland.
- Kylan Boswell scored 12 points and secured five rebounds.
- Posted his 17th game of the season with 10+ points.
- 11th game of the season in double-digits scoring with at least five rebounds.
- Tomislav Ivisic scored 10 points while adding three rebounds and three assists.
- Tallied his 16th game of the season with at least 10 points.
- Has knocked down a 3-pointer in 20 games this season.
- Hit Illinois' first triple of the game at 16:01 in the second half after an 0-for-17 start from beyond the arc as a team.
- Eighth game of the season with at least three assists.
- Tied his career-high with three blocks.
Team Notes:
- Starting lineup: Kylan Boswell, Ben Humrichous, Tomislav Ivisic, Kasparas Jakucionis, and Tre White
- 17th game (12-5) with this starting lineup.
- First game with this starting lineup since Jan. 19 at Michigan State.
- Illinois moves to 7-9 in Quad 1 matchups and 3-6 vs. top-25 opponents on the season.
- The loss snaps Illinois' streak of three consecutive wins over ranked opponents at Madison Square Garden since 2019.
- The Illini are now 6-9 all-time at Madison Square Garden, overall, and 3-2 under Brad Underwood.
- Illinois moves to 1-1 vs. Duke under Brad Underwood.
- The Illini earned an 83-68 road win at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Dec. 8, 2020 as part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
- Illinois is now 0-2 vs. top-5 opponents this season.
- Illinois is 5-14 in top-5 matchups under Brad Underwood.
- Illinois five wins over top-5 opponents remain one shy of the NCAA lead since the 2019-20 season.
