National Basketball Association
Illinois 93, Kennesaw St. 45
When: 9:00 PM ET, Saturday, December 27, 2014
Where: State Farm Center, Champaign, Illinois
Officials:
# Lamont Simpson, # Donnie Eppley, # Tim Stewart
Attendance:
16158
By SportsDirect Inc.
Illinois 93, Kennesaw State 45: Rayvonte Rice scored 21 points on a perfect night of shooting from the field (7-of-7) as the Fighting Illini throttled the visiting Owls.
Rice, who hasn't missed a shot since his game-winning buzzer-beater Dec. 20 against Missouri, added six rebounds and Aaron Cosby came off the bench to score 13 points for Illinois (10-3), which won its 36th consecutive home game against a non-conference foe. Malcolm Hill had 16 points and grabbed nine boards.
Yonel Brown scored all 10 of his points in the second half for Kennesaw State (4-10), which shot 24.6 percent from the floor. Damien Wilson pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds and chipped in 10 points as a reserve.
Rice caught fire from the opening tip, knocking down his first five shots as the Illini surged ahead 31-15 with just under eight minutes to play in the first half. Kennesaw State went nearly 6 1/2 minutes without a basket, during which Illinois rattled of 25 straight points before settling for a 54-18 lead at the half.
Jaylon Tate dished an alley-oop pass to Leron Black for an emphatic jam to make it 70-25 with 12:30 to play in the second half and Cosby drained a 3-pointer two possessions later as the lead grew to 50. The Owls climbed within 84-42 on a 9-0 spurt but it was too little too late as Kennesaw State lost its third straight game.
GAME NOTEBOOK: The Owls went 5-of-28 from the field and turned the ball over 11 times in the first half. ... Rice notched his 14th career game with at least 20 points. ... Tate had a game-high seven assists and added five points off the bench for the Illini.
Top Game Performances
Kennesaw St. |
|
Illinois |
Yonel Brown 10 |
Scoring |
Rayvonte Rice 21 |
Delbert Love 3 |
Assists |
Jaylon Tate 7 |
Damien Wilson 11 |
Rebounds |
Malcolm Hill 9 |
Damien Wilson 3 |
Free Throws Made |
Rayvonte Rice 5 |
Delbert Love 2 |
Steals |
Malcolm Hill 2 |
Orlando Coleman 2 |
Blocks |
Nnanna Egwu 1 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Kennesaw St.
|
45 |
24.6 |
7-29 |
8-9 |
11 |
33 |
4 |
4 |
16 |
Illinois
|
93 |
55.4 |
7-21 |
14-18 |
19 |
42 |
2 |
4 |
6 |