Illinois Basketball: Illini blitz Bethune-Cookman to close out calendar year

The Illinois basketball team got back on track at State Farm Center against Bethune-Cookman on Thursday night.

A rocky December ended on a high note for the Illini, as it improved to 9-4 with an 85-52 win against Bethune-Cookman. The victory was a bounce-back effort just on the heels of a 22-point drubbing from Missouri one week prior.

From the opening tip, a victory was never in doubt for Illinois, as they controlled the tempo for every second with little room for error. Dain Dainja scored a career-high 22 points and hauled in six rebounds, while Terrance Shannon Jr., Sencire Harris, and Coleman Hawkins chipped in with 13, 12, and 11 points, respectively, in one of the most productive games of the season.

On the defensive end, the Illini fared much better than previously, as the Orange and Blue forced 20 turnovers while accounting for 20 blocks and steals combined. The Illini held the Wildcats to under 25% from three-point range and under 30% on field goal attempts, thus not allowing the 30.5-point underdog to find any momentum whatsoever.

Illinois never trailed in the game and never let Bethune-Cookman get within 20 points to even have a remote chance of an upset, which was a far cry from the Alabama A&M game where it was kept close throughout much of the first half before the Illini pulled away for good.

The victory marked a positive step for the program as nonconference play came to a close, as did 2022. Most notably, Illinois defeated two top-10 juggernauts in Texas and UCLA but ultimately struggled in early conference action, dropping tough losses to Maryland in College Park and Penn State at home.

Illinois basketball now shifts its attention to the Big Ten slate.

With the nonconference behind them, the Illini will focus their sole attention on defending the Big Ten regular season title. While it is still early in the race, the Illini’s goal of repeating is a strong possibility and one to follow as the season continues and the return of Luke Goode looms.

The Illini will get the next six days off before traveling to Welsh-Ryan Arena to take on conference rival Northwestern, as they will look for their first Big Ten win of the season.

As for the Wildcats, they won their conference opener in December against Michigan State and have not lost a game since November 29, as they extended their winning streak to five with a 63-58 win against Brown earlier on Thursday.

Tip-off is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. CT on Big Ten Network.