Chicago St. Cougars vs Illinois Fighting Illini Match Player Stats On Nov 26, 2020

Preseason All-America guard Ayo Dosunmu collected 22 points and seven assists to lead a balanced effort in No. 8 Illinois' 97-38 triumph over Chicago State on Thursday in Champaign, Ill.

Sophomore 7-footer Kofi Cockburn added 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Illini (2-0), who won by at least 59 points for the second time in as many days of the Illinois MTE. Illinois, who posted a 122-60 win over North Carolina A&T on Wednesday, faces Ohio on Friday afternoon.

Freshman guards Andre Curbelo (18 points) and Adam Miller (15 points) and senior guard Trent Frazier (14 points) also hit double figures as Illinois shot 60 percent from the field.

Chicago State (0-2) received 10 points off the bench from senior guard Xavier Johnson and nine from junior swingman Jordan Polynice, the nephew of former NBA veteran Olden Polynice. The Illini's smothering man-to-man defense limited the Cougars to 27.8 percent shooting.

One day after setting a school record with 17 3-pointers, Illinois eschewed jumpers in favor of slashing to the rim. The Illini made 10 of their first 11 shots -- all but one either a layup or a dunk -- to build a 23-6 lead at the 12:30 mark of the first half.

Miller, who drilled 6 3-pointers in Wednesday's opener, started with two layups in the first two minutes. Dosunmu repeatedly attacked the basket and either scooped it off the glass or fed Cockburn for layups.

Late in the first half, Frazier swished two 3-pointers and a pair of free throws to fuel Illinois' 14-0 run, pushing the lead to 42-12 with 3:43 left in the half.

The Illini's dominance at both ends of the floor triggered another long scoring streak early in the second half. When Miller buried 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions, Illinois capped a 17-0 run that increased its lead to 67-20 with 13:08 to go.

--Field Level Media