By IlliniGuys Staff
January 3, 2025
(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)
EUGENE, Ore. - 22nd ranked Illinois landed in the Pacific Northwest earlier this week in search of its first road win of the season.
What they leave with is a performance for the ages.
Illinois put six players in double figures, shot a sizzling 71 percent from the field in the second half and hit a season-high tying 16 three-pointers to rout 9th ranked Oregon, 109-77. The 32-point margin is the largest ever by a road team over an opponent ranked in the Associated Press top 10.
All of that despite a slow start. The Illini missed their first six shots before Ben Humrichous hit a jumper at the 16:45 mark of the first half. Coach Brad Underwood then trotted out an unusual lineup of sophomores Dravyn Gibbs-Lawhorn and Jake Davis along with three freshmen and they engineered a 12-0 run to put Illinois up for good at 14-7.
The two reserves played a huge role in the first half. With Kasparas Jakucionis going scoreless before halftime due to foul troubles, Davis scored a season high 12 and Gibbs-Lawhorn 11 as they kept Illinois in the lead, 45-38 at halftime. Davis had scored just 14 points all season before his eight-minute stint in the first half.
Illinois (10-3, 2-1 in Big Ten) then put on a clinic coming out of the locker room, hitting 9 of its first 10 shots in the second half to expand its lead to 65-42. Oregon never got closer than 12 points the rest of the way.
Tre White led the way with 20 points and 11 rebounds. It was the junior's first double-double effort as an Illini and the fifth of his career. Humrichous finished with a season-high 18 points, including four three-pointers. Jakucionis scored all 16 of his points in the second half - his eighth consecutive double-digit scoring night, adding six rebounds and six assists. Kylan Boswell followed up his first-ever triple double in Sunday's win over Chicago State with 15 points and four assists while Davis and Gibbs-Lawhorn didn't score in the second half.
Oregon (12-2, 1-2) was led by 20 points from Supreme Cook.
Illinois is now 1-1 in road games and 3-2 against AP Top 25 teams. It's their first win of the season over a top 10 ranked teams after losing to Tennessee and Alabama.
The Illini will spend the night in Eugene before flying to Seattle on Friday ahead of Sunday's game at Washington. (3pm CT, BTN).
Stay with IlliniGuys.com for more postgame coverage.
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