CHAMPAIGN — Dain Dainja scored 20 points and grabbed 15 rebounds, leading No. 23 Illinois to an 86-48 win over Kansas City on Friday night.
Terrence Shannon Jr. added 14 points and five assists for the Illini (2-0). Shemarri Allen led the Roos (0-3) with 20 points and eight rebounds on 9-of-19 shooting.
Advertisement
Shannon opened the scoring with a vicious dunk, but Illinois fell behind 9-5 early as it missed 17 of its first 18 shots.
Dainja broke the drought by hitting a fadeaway jumper and drawing a foul after grabbing an offensive rebound. He hit the ensuing free throw, and Matthew Mayer drilled a 3 on the next possession, part of a 21-4 Illini run to take a comfortable 17-point lead into the half.
Advertisement
The Roos missed 10 of their last 11 shots of the first half and shot 31.3% for the night.
Hawkins capped a 9-0 run with an emphatic slam in transition to put the game out of reach and give Illinois a 61-34 lead with 11:38 left. Dainja rejected RayQuawndis Mitchell’s layup at the other end for good measure.
