Those on the mainland that shirked their bedtimes and stayed up late Sunday to catch Illinois in its opening game of the Maui Invitational witnessed one of the best halves a college basketball team can orchestrate.

The Illini nearly ran USC out of the gym in the first half, shooting a blistering 68.8 percent in the first 20 minutes of regulation, including 8-for-14 from 3-point range, as they raced out to a commanding 57-26 halftime lead.

The impressive scoring in the first half has not been foreign this season; it’s the third out of four games thus far in the regular season that Illinois scored more than 40 points in the first half. But the volume is most startling – 57 points is the most Illinois has scored in the first half since a 2004 matchup against Gonzaga in which it scored 58 points.

“We were a little bit disappointed as a group that we didn’t get off to a better start this past Friday night (against Hawaii),” Illinois head coach John Groce said. “I thought tonight the start of the game was critical.

“I thought we came out and got off to a great start, had a lot of energy, and really moved the ball. It was a free flowing first half.”

Brandon Paul led the team in scoring with 26 points on 9-for-15 shooting from the field. D.J. Richardson added 13 points and Tracy Abrams had 11 points and eight assists with eight turnovers.

Illinois will square off against the Chaminade Silver Swords at 9:30 p.m. CT on Tuesday for a chance to play in the Maui Invitational Championship game.

Thomas can be reached at [email protected].