Sophomore center Tomislav Ivisic scored 20 points with six rebounds and four steals as Illinois claimed a 66-54 nonconference victory over Oakland (Michigan) on Wednesday night in Champaign, Ill.
Ben Humrichous added 10 points and six rebounds for Illinois (3-0), which shot a season-low 41.8 percent from the field and committed 18 turnovers against Oakland’s matchup zone.
Jayson Woodrich paced Oakland (1-2) with 11 points before leaving with 3:28 left with a left shoulder injury. DQ Cole added 10 points and four steals, but the Golden Grizzlies also had 18 turnovers and followed up last week’s 3-for-26 3-point shooting at Boise State by going 4-for-25 versus Illinois.
Illinois built a 9-5 lead by the first media timeout, then inserted Will Riley into the lineup. The Big Ten’s reigning freshman of the week drilled a step-back 3-pointer on his first touch, then added an 8-foot runner and two free throws to cap a three-minute stretch that pushed Illinois’ margin to 18-9.
Illinois extended the lead to 22-9 when Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn swiped a pass and broke away from a two-handed jam at the 10:52 mark.
Oakland responded with 10 straight points in just 2:11 to cut the margin to 22-19. Tuburu Naivalurua started the spree with a jumper, Woodrich finished it with a driving layup and Malcolm Christie added four free throws along the way — two when Illinois coach Brad Underwood was hit with a technical.
Illinois quelled the rally with back-to-back 3-pointers by Kylan Boswell and Tre White, but Naivalurua and teammate Allen Mukeba threw down violent dunks in the final two minutes of the half to pull the Golden Grizzlies within 36-29 at the break.
The teams combined for 22 turnovers in the first half, then Illinois committed two miscues in the first 66 seconds of the second half to enable Oakland to pull within two. The first turnover came when Mukeba poked away a pass and raced ahead of the pack for a fierce dunk, then a steal by Cole turned into two Woodrich free throws to make it 38-36 with 18:34 left.
That’s when Illinois spread the floor and fed Ivisic at the free-throw line, where he could go one-on-one. The lefty sank two jumpers and a layup to help the Fighting Illini rebuild a 49-38 lead with 15:02 to play.
Oakland never got within single digits again as both teams went cold. The Illini missed 10 of 11 shots at one point, and the Golden Grizzlies 11 of 12.
Boswell sank two free throws and a 3-pointer, then a no-look pass by Kasparas Jakucionis set up a dunk by Ivisic to make it 66-49 with 1:39 to go.
