Tomislav Ivisic drilled six 3-pointers on the way to scoring a career-best 28 points and Andrej Stojakovic added 26 points to lift third-ranked Illinois past Sam Houston 108-86 on Friday in Champaign, Ill.
Illinois (3-1) regrouped from a Tuesday loss at No. 16 Texas Tech after withstanding a test from the Bearkats (2-2).
Five Sam Houston players combined to hit seven consecutive shots early in the second half, with Jacobe Coleman providing eight points during the surge. A dunk by Enel St. Bernard gave the Bearkats a 57-56 lead with 15:58 to play.
A long-range barrage put the Illini back in front, with Tomislav Ivisic, Zvonimir Ivisic and Ethan Brown each connecting from deep over a 1:34 span. The treys sparked a 13-2 run that padded the advantage to 10 points with 12:51 to go.
The Bearkats drew within seven with 11:39 left before fading in the opener of a four-game road trip. The Illini led by as many as 23 points down the stretch.
Justin Begg notched 19 points and 10 assists for the Bearkats. Aidan McDowell added 19 points while Yoda Oke (14) and Coleman (11) followed. St. Bernard grabbed eight boards.
Tomislav Ivisic and Stojakovic combined to shoot 20-for-37 from the field as the Illini hit 53.3% from the floor.
Stefan Vaaks had 14 points while Quentin Coleman and Brown each chipped in 11. Coleman added eight rebounds, six assists and four steals.
The Bearkats led shortly after the midpoint of the first half, but Tomislav Ivisic and Brown drilled 3-pointers late in the half to seemingly shift the momentum in Illinois’ favor.
Stojakovic’s fastbreak layup put the Illini ahead 43-32 with 2:08 to go before intermission, but Sam Houston responded with eight of the last 10 points to close the half, highlighted by a pair of treys from McDowell.
Illinois led 45-40 at halftime behind double-figure scoring efforts from Stojakovic (14 points) and Tomislav Ivisic (11). McDowell paced the Bearkats with 13.
The Illini extended their home nonconference winning streak to 11 games.
Illinois has scored at least 100 points three times this season.
–Field Level Media
