Highlights | Press Conference | Photo Gallery | Box Score (PDF)
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The No. 11 Fighting Illini were without three probable starters in their season opener on Tuesday night but still took care of business against Jackson State with a 71-47 victory. Jacob Grandison's 20 points led Illinois to its 25th straight victory when opening the season at State Farm Center.
"I could not be prouder with a bunch of guys in a locker room than I am tonight," head coach Brad Underwood said. "And I mean that. I am ecstatic with that locker room tonight. Our effort, we set out to play really, really hard, guard and rebound the basketball. And we felt like we had to do that against a team we knew is one of the better defensive teams in the country. Their DER last year was off the charts... They're disruptive and that's a really bad feeling when your top three primary ball handlers are not in the lineup and the best player in college basketball isn't in the lineup either. We found a way. It was ugly. We fought, we competed, we got off to a great start."
Illinois' defense made a strong debut, holding Jackson State scoreless for nearly the first seven minutes and it would be another five minutes before the Tigers scored again. The Illini also forced 14 first half turnovers leading to 13 points.
Rebounding on both ends of the ball was key for the Illini as they outrebounded the Tigers 45-25. Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk dominated the boards with a career-high 10 rebounds, half of those being on the offensive end. Illinois' aggressiveness in the paint led to 17 second chance points.
"My hat goes off to Ben. Ben goes against Kofi (Cockburn) every day," Underwood said. "I thought his defensive intensity, his tenacity, his rebounding —five offensive — just kind of a bowl in the china closet type mentality was impactful."
Gallery: (11-9-2021) Illinois vs. Jackson State
Coleman Hawkins, Alfonso Plummer and Omar Payne all made their first career starts in the orange and blue and quickly found ways to contribute offensively. After Jacob Grandison started the game off with three points, Payne hit a shot with an assist from Hawkins for an early 5-0 lead. Plummer joined in on the action a few minutes later, sinking a transition jumper.
Freshmen Luke Goode and RJ Melendez also got early minutes, and each scored before the 10-minute mark of the first half. Goode, a four-star recruit out of Indiana, made Illinois' first three-pointer of the season five minutes into the game. The freshman was dominant from deep in high school, shooting 40.4% from the three as a senior.
While the Tigers' offense started to pick up after the first 10 minutes, the Illini kept up as eight different players scored in the first half. Hawkins' team-high eight points led the Illini into halftime with a 30-17 lead.
Illinois' offense stole the show early in the second half as Grandison, Hawkins and Williams lit up State Farm Center with 19 combined points through nine minutes.
"That was the whole idea, that's what we talked about at halftime, just kind of get (Grandison) going." Underwood said. "He played a little choppy in the first half because of foul trouble. He got off to a good start, he was energetic, he was involved. We tried to run a back door play to start the second half and they took it away, but then we came back and ran three or four actions right back at him to get him going. We put him in a high shake because he's a really good three-point shooter adn they tagged off of him and he hit a couple threes. It was game planned in the second half to try and get him moving down the tracks in a positive way for us."
Jackson State's Coltie Young fought back with a couple threes, but the Illini countered with consecutive three-pointers by Melendez, Grandison and Goode. Free throws from Williams and Plummer extended the lead to 64-38 with under five minutes to play.
Grandison sealed the game with an and-1 before Underwood emptied the bench.
The Illini will be back in action on Friday night when they host Arkansas State at 8 p.m. CT.
POSTGAME NOTES
• Illinois opened its 117th season of men's basketball on Tuesday night.
• The Fighting Illini have now posted an all-time record of 103-14 (.880) in season openers.
• The Illini improved to 38-2 all-time (.950) when opening the season at State Farm Center. This includes a current streak of 25 straight wins when starting the year at SFC, a run that began on 12/1/93.
• Illinois totaled 12 steals, its most against a Div. I opponent since recording 12 steals vs. Michigan State on 2/5/19. The Illini forced Jackson State into 20 turnovers, also the most by a UI opponent since MSU totaled 24 turnovers on 2/5/19.
• Illinois grabbed 55% of its misses, totaling 17 offensive rebounds on the evening and converting those into 17 second-chance points.
• Senior Jacob Grandison scored a game-high 20 points (7-10 FG, 2-4 3FG, 4-4 FT). It marked his highest point total as an Illini, and fifth time in double figures. His previous UI scoring high was 14 last season vs. Nebraska (2/25/21).
• Sophomore Coleman Hawkins set a number of career highs with 13 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals, and 29 minutes played.
• Sophomore Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk led the Illini in rebounding, grabbing a career-high 10 boards in a career-best 21 minutes while also scoring 5 points and dishing out 3 assists.
• Illinois was without three starters/four rotation players on the evening: center Kofi Cockburn, point guard Andre Curbelo, guard Trent Frazier & guard Austin Hutcherson.
• With Curbelo and Frazier sidelined, senior Da'Monte Williams moved into the point guard role for the first time in his career. Williams finished with 8 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals in 31 minutes.
• Five players made their Illini debut tonight:
Senior Utah transfer Alfonso Plummer (9 pts, 4 reb, career-high 4 ast, 3 stl)
Junior Florida transfer Omar Payne (4 pts, 3 reb, 3 blk)
Freshman Luke Goode (6 pts, 4 reb)
Freshman RJ Melendez (5 pts, 3 reb)
Freshman Brandin Podziemski (1 pt, 2 reb)
