By IlliniGuys Staff

January 14, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - In case you still weren't sure, the answer was made clear Tuesday night.

Yes, Kasparas Jakucionis is a difference maker on this Illinois basketball team.

The two-time Big Ten Freshman of the Week returned to action after missing the last two games with an arm injury to score 21 points as 19th ranked Illinois routed Indiana, 94-69 Tuesday night.

The 25-point margin is the largest winning margin the Illini have ever enjoyed in Bloomington, surpassing a 96-72 blowout administered to the Hoosiers in January, 1956. It's the most points scored by an Illini team in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall since a 103-87 victory in March, 1971.

It was a drastic departure from Illinois' last game, when they put forward a lethargic effort in an 82-72 upset by USC Saturday morning at State Farm Center.

Illinois (13-4, 5-2) hit its first four shots as it took a 10-6 lead and never trailed after that, building its advantage to 30 points before settling for a 60-32 score at halftime. The 60 points matching a season-high for first half scoring, set against Chicago State last month.

Indiana rallied with a 10-0 run to open the second half, but could never get closer than 16 points in the second half as the Illini hit eleven three-pointers in the game, dominated the boards with 51 rebounds to 37 for the Hoosiers, and committed just six turnovers.

Kylan Boswell led all scorers with a game-high 22 points, 13 in the second half. Tomislav Ivisic delivered 17 points, including three-of-six from the three-point arc, and 11 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the season, but his first since going for 11 and 10 against Missouri on December 22nd. Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn added 12 points off the bench and freshman reserve Morez Johnson Jr. continued his dominant play with 10 rebounds in just 18 minutes.

Indiana (13-6, 5-3) was led by Oumar Ballo with 16 points and 15 rebounds before he was ejected for his role in a fracas with 2:24 left in the game.

Road wins are notoriously hard to come by in the Big Ten, but the Illini are now 3-1 in opposing arenas. Illinois is now 8-0 this season when scoring 90 points or more.

Illinois now prepares for a trip to East Lansing and a Sunday morning showdown at Big Ten co-leader Michigan State (11am CT, CBS).

Stay with IlliniGuys.com for complete postgame coverage from Bloomington.