By IlliniGuys Staff

November 28, 2024

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - If you made a list of the things Illinois wanted to accomplish in their matchup with 19th ranked Arkansas before a national television audience, you would say mission accomplished.

In their most complete performance of the young season, the Illini played up to the level of their throwback Flyin' Illini jerseys, draining 15 three-pointers and leading from start to finish as they handcuffed 19th ranked Arkansas from the opening tip to score a convincing 90-77 upset victory on Thanksgiving.

Their European duo of Tomislav Ivisic and Kasparas Jakucionis led the way. The 7-foot-1 Ivisic, playing against his twin brother Zvonimir for the first time, hit 6 of 9 three pointers on his way to 21 points to go with 10 rebounds for his fourth double-double effort this season.

Jakucionis poured in a team-high 21 points, including a personal 8-0 run late in the second half with Ivisic on the bench with four fouls to keep Illinois in a double-digit lead.

The Illini jumped out to an 11-0 lead and maintained a sizeable advantage for most of the game, thanks to their most prolific long-distance shooting night of the season. Illinois (6-1) hit 15-of-31 from beyond the arc, while holding Arkansas to just five second-half treys on 17 attempts.

"It's modern day basketball", Illinois head coach Brad Underwood told CBS after the game. "We're spacing it, we're relying on three-point shooting, we've got guards who can drive, we've got positional size and today we made some shots."

It was the most three point shots made against a power opponent since Illinois drained 16 against Arizona in December, 2021 while shooting over50 percent from the field for the first time this season.

Junior wing Adou Thiero scored a game-high 26 points for Arkansas (5-2) with 12 of those coming from the free throw line. Zvonimir Ivisic finished with 13 and Billy Richmond III added 12 off the bench. But the Illini defense held the other star Razorbacks in check. Former 5-star recruits Boogie Fland and DJ Wagner combined for just 16 points on 6-of-21 shooting and Florida Atlantic transfer and former Final Four star Johnell Davis managed just a single field goal to end the night with three points.

Kylan Boswell's improved play continues with 18 points, six rebounds, and five assists and Ben Humrichous went 3-of-4 from three-point territory.

The effort was a complete turnaround from just eight days earlier, when Alabama put up 100 points in their neutral-court victory over the Illini. Tonight, Illinois was the aggressor and answered every Razorback run with a bucket of their own as Arkansas never got closer than nine points in the second half.

Illinois now has a break before opening Big Ten play a week from Friday at Northwestern (8pm CT, BTN).

Stay with IlliniGuys.com for complete postgame coverage.