When the Illinois men’s basketball team needed a spark, sophomore Meyers Leonard was the one to give it.

The Illini used a 22-8 run after an alley-oop dunk from freshman Tracy Abrams to Leonard to fuel a 79-51 win by Illinois over Wayne State College at the Assembly Hall on Tuesday night.

Leonard would end the game with a team-high 18 points and four rebounds playing just 16 minutes in the winning effort.

Junior guards Brandon Paul and D.J. Richardson would add 16 and 11 points, respectively.

After a slow first half for the Illini that saw them clinging to a 35-32 lead, the scoring would be jumpstarted by Leonard, Paul and Richardson, who would combine for 18 of team’s next 22 points, with nine coming from Leonard.

“I think I was just a little more involved,” Leonard said. “I didn’t have any rebounds in the first half, which I was pretty disappointed in myself, and then I came out in the second half, had a nose for the ball and just kept my energy high.”

Helping the cause was strong play on the defensive end, highlighted by 21 Wildcats turnovers, including a 10-4 Illini advantage in the second half, helping Illinois outscore Wayne State 44-19 in the half.

“We thought our pressure would hurt them, they turned it over a lot last year,” head coach Bruce Weber said. “I thought once they tired and their cuts got a little slow, we were able to take advantage of that. … I think that was good to practice because they went long and deep into the shot clock, and we didn’t react very well because in practice we haven’t done that very much to be honest.”

Junior guard Amry Shelby would finish with 22 points on 7-of-13 shooting for the Wildcats after having 15 of the team’s 32 points in the first half.

Illinois played four of its seven newcomers. Senior Sam Maniscalco was held out the game on a precautionary measure due to his ankle, but the freshmen who did play would step up and combine for 23 of the team’s points. Forward Mike Shaw had eight points and a team-high eight rebounds.

“Mike rebounded the ball incredibly tonight,” Leonard said. “There were sometimes in the first half where I got knocked down and Mike stepped up and rebounded. Throughout the second half he rebounded the ball incredibly well.”

Helping facilitate the offense was point guard Tracy Abrams. The Chicago native would finish the game with five points, five assists and no turnovers.

“I think he played like a true point guard, he really stepped up for us,” Paul said of Abrams. “He gave guys easy baskets, he did what he was supposed to do.”

Freshman Myke Henry missed the game due to a quad injury and Devin Langford is expected to miss four to six weeks after he suffered a broken finger Oct. 24.

Also absent from the lineup was sophomore Crandall Head after being suspended for the team’s first four games for violating team rules.

“We have high standards for the conduct of our players, and there are consequences when those expectations are not met,” Weber said in a statement. “I’m confident Crandall will respond to this situation in a positive manner and continue to grow as a person and teammate.”