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OMAHA, Nebraska – Third seed Illinois pulled away in the second half to secure an 85-69 victory over No. 14 seed Morehead State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Thursday afternoon at CHI Health Center Omaha. The Fighting Illini shot 60.7% in the second half and outscored the Eagles 46-31 to secure their first NCAA tournament victory since 2022.
Marcos Domask recorded the first triple-double of his career, recording 12 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists. He marks the sixth triple-double in Illinois program history, the first by an Illini in the NCAA Tournament and just the 10th overall in NCAA Tournament history. Having already recorded double-digit rebounds and assists, Domask capped off the triple-double performance with a dagger three-pointer at the 2:58 mark of the second half, the team’s final field goal of the game.
Adding the best scoring total of the season, Dain Dainja He scored 17 of his 21 points in the second half while shooting a perfect 9-of-9 from the field. Dainja also grabbed eight rebounds, including three on the offensive glass, and made two blocks to match his season-high.
Terrence Shannon Jr. He finished with a team-high 26 points, his fifth straight game with at least 20 points. With a total of 19 points in the first half, Shannon made 2 of 3 field goals in the second period of play. He also racked up four assists, two rebounds, two blocks and two steals. Shannon’s performance gives him 669 points for the season, breaking the Illinois program’s single-season scoring record by one point.
Coleman Hawkins He racked up 10 points and was 2 of 3 from 3-point range. He also added five assists, four rebounds, two steals and a block.
Luke Goode He scored nine points with three triples. He also grabbed four rebounds. Dr. Gibbs-Lawhorn added six points off the bench, hitting a pair of 3-pointers late in the first half.
After Morehead State opened the game 9-0, Illinois settled in and responded with a 9-2 run to cut its deficit to two points. Shannon scored seven of the Illini’s first nine points, although the Eagles held an early 11-9 lead.
Dainja and Shannon combined for the Orange and Blue’s first 13 points. With Morehead State ahead by six, Goode connected from 3-point range to cut Illinois’ deficit to 19-16 with just over 12 minutes left in the first half. Shannon then reached double figures with a steal and a transition dunk, cutting the Illini deficit to one, 19-18.
Shannon hit her first 3-pointer of the afternoon before Hawkins scored the Illini’s next five points, which came on a dunk and a step-back three, the latter of which brought Illinois’ deficit back to one point.
Hawkins’ 3-pointer started an 11-2 run for the Illini. Shannon’s and-1 layup less than a minute later put Illinois in front for the first time before Gibbs-Lawhorn hit a 3-pointer. Shannon somehow got an acrobatic layup to fall through contact, which completed the two-and-a-half-minute run and put the Orange and Blue in front, 34-29.
Domask got his first points just over a minute later, before Gibbs-Lawhorn hit his second 3-pointer of the day, which tied his career high and marked the Illini’s final field goal of the first half.
Illinois entered halftime with a 39-38 lead, led by Shannon’s team-high 19 points. The Illini got 13 points off their bench, including six from Gibbs-Lawhorn and four from Dainja.
Morehead State retook the lead early in the second half before Shannon made one of the plays of the day. Diving to the ground to locate a loose ball before launching it back into a defender’s knee, Shannon surpassed the 20-point mark for the fifth straight game with a layup on the next possession to briefly put Illinois back in front.
Dainja then accounted for the Illini’s next nine points, leading them to double figures for the eighth time this season and for the second time in their last four games. Dainja scored 11 points during a 14-3 Illini run, which culminated with an emphatic transition dunk to force a Morehead State timeout. That stretch, which lasted four and a half minutes, gave Illinois its largest lead at that point in the contest, 57-48, with 12 minutes left.
A 3-pointer by the Eagles cut Morehead State’s deficit to single digits, but that didn’t last long. A 9-0 run, which included points from four different Illini scorers, over a two-minute span pushed Illinois’ lead to 17 points with nine minutes remaining.
Five straight points from Hawkins, including his second 3-pointer, pushed the Illini lead above the 20-point mark. Having reached double-digit assists and rebounds, Domask hit two three-pointers in the span of 90 seconds, which secured his triple-double.
Leading by as many as 24, the Illini closed the contest on a 42-24 run to clinch a spot in the second round of the postseason.
Illinois now plays 11th-seeded Duquesne in the second round on Saturday.
REFLEXES
PRESS CONFERENCE
POST-GAME NOTES
Player Notes
- Terrence Shannon Jr. He recorded a team-high 26 points and added four assists, two steals and two blocks.
- He set the Illinois single-season scoring record 58 years ago (668 points by Don Freeman in 1965-66), finishing the game with 26 points to advance to 669 for the year.
- Scored in double figures for the 39th consecutive game
- He recorded multiple triples in his fifth straight game and for the ninth time in his last 10 starts.
- He has scored 20+ points in 19 games as an Illini, tied for second on the program’s all-time list (since 1971).
- He recorded multiple blocks and multiple steals in the same game for the second time this season.
- Marcos Domask He recorded a triple-double with 12 points and game-highs of 11 rebounds and 10 assists.
- He recorded the sixth triple-double in Illinois men’s basketball history.
- He became the fifth different player to record a triple-double in program history. Coleman HawkinsAyo Dosunmu (twice), Sergio McClain and Mark Smith (1979).
- He recorded the 10th triple-double in NCAA tournament history joining Murray State’s Ja Morant (2019), Michigan State’s Draymond Green (twice, 2011 and 2012), Kansas’ Cole Aldrich (2009), Dwyane Wade of Marquette (2003), Utah’s Andre Miller (1998), St. John’s David Cain (1993), LSU’s Shaquille O’Neal (1992) and Michigan’s Gary Grant (1987).
- He scored in double figures for the 27th time this season.
- He had double-digit rebounds for the third time this season.
- He dished out double-digit assists for the second time this season, his third straight game with at least eight.
- Dain Dainja He recorded 21 points, eight rebounds and two blocks.
- He scored a season-high 21 points, including 17 in the second half.
- He scored in double figures for the eighth time this season.
- He shot a perfect 9 of 9 from the field and is 13 of 13 from the field in his last two games.
- He tied a season high with two blocks.
- Coleman Hawkins He recorded 10 points, four rebounds, five assists, two steals and a block.
- He scored double-digit points for his 20th game this season.
- He hit two 3-pointers, his 16th game with multiple 3-pointers.
- He had more than 5 assists for the seventh time this season.
- Luke Goode He recorded nine points and four rebounds.
- He made three triples, his eleventh game with 3+ triples this season.
- Dr. Gibbs-Lawhorn He added six points and one rebound.
- He connected on both of his 3-point attempts in the final 5:19 of the first half.
- He recorded multiple hits from 3-point range for the second time this season and for the first time since the Illini’s regular-season opener against Eastern Illinois on Nov. 6.
Team Notes
- Illinois improves to 27-8, the third-most wins in program history and the team’s most wins in 23 years since the 2000-01 team finished 27-8 during its run to the Elite Eight.
- Thursday’s victory marked the head coach’s 250th. Brad Underwoodin his career in 11 total seasons at Stephen F. Austin, Oklahoma State and Illinois.
- Illinois is now 43-34 all-time in NCAA Tournament games.
- The Illini improve to 32-16 as the highest (best) seed in the NCAA Tournament and are now 4-3 all-time as a No. 3 seed, and 3-2 all-time against the seed. No. 14.
- Illinois is now 25-9 when playing its first NCAA Tournament game and has won its first game in five of its last six NCAA Tournament appearances (2011, 2013, 2021, 2022 and 2024).
- Illinois’ 12 3-pointers are tied for third most in program history in an NCAA Tournament game.
- The Illini dished out 24 assists, tied for third in an NCAA tournament game in program history.
- Illinois’ seven blocks broke the program record for most rejections in an NCAA Tournament game set in 2002.
- Illinois advances to face No. 11 seed Duquesne on Saturday. The Illini are 2-1 all-time against Duquesne, including a win in the 1952 NCAA Tournament, but the programs have not met since the 1989-90 season.
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