As No. 13 Illinois men’s basketball took the floor for its penultimate home matchup of the 2023-24 regular season, the Illini downed the visiting Minnesota Golden Gophers 105-97 on Wednesday night in Champaign. The Illini are now 21-7 overall and 12-5 in the Big Ten Conference.
Head coach Brad Underwood started the game with his starting five of fifth-year guard Terrence Shannon Jr., sophomore guard Ty Rodgers, graduate student forward Marcus Domask, graduate student forward Quincy Guerrier and senior forward Coleman Hawkins.
While the Golden Gophers won the tipoff, the Illini got on the board first after a triple from Hawkins, who enjoyed a red-hot start. The senior paved the way early and went on a tear, scoring Illinois’ opening eight points.
Ten minutes in saw a fiercely fought battle on the floor, with neither team able to create any significant separation on the scoreboard. The introduction of redshirt junior forward Dain Dainja at the 14:38 mark provided a strong spark, and the Illini big man wasted no time in putting up five quick points to keep Illinois slightly ahead of the visitors.
Shannon and Hawkins led the Illini offensively with efficient shooting from the floor, but the Golden Gophers were able to match each bucket and led 38-37 entering the final four minutes of the first half.
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Illinois managed to battle its way back in front to close out the period, and the State Farm Center was given a massive boost as Dainja slammed home a two-handed dunk to keep the Illini in front.
Heading into the break, Illinois found itself up by a 48-45 scoreline.
Guerrier opened the second half scoring, however 5-5 shooting from Minnesota saw the visitors go back in front. The advantage was only temporary following back-to-back triples from Shannon and Guerrier.
Both sides continued to go head-to-head on every possession, matching scoring plays to keep the game at a mere one-point difference. The competitive nature of this trend was highlighted at the 14:50 mark after Hawkins responded to an emphatic slam from the Golden Gophers with one of his own on the very next play.
The momentum began to rise in the Illini’s favor after Shannon and Domask drained their three-point makes to boost Illinois to a five-point lead.
Entering the final 10 minutes, Illinois built upon the rabid support from the Orange Krush by putting together an 8-2 scoring run. As the Illini began heating up in the scoring department, so did their hustle. Much to the State Farm Center’s delight, Illinois outworked Minnesota in getting to loose balls first as any early momentum for the visitors fizzled out.
A 10-2 run for the Illini elevated them to a double-digit lead, and the sea of orange in the building was on their feet as Illinois closed out the high-scoring contest by a 105-97 scoreline. Shannon led the team in scoring with 29 points, with Domask and Hawkins not far behind with 22 and 20 points, respectively.
Illinois (21-7 overall, 12-5 B1G) will be back on Saturday after taking a trip up north to take on Wisconsin (18-10 overall, 10-7 B1G). The showdown will tip off at noon CT in Madison, Wisconsin.
@james_kim15
