CHAMPAIGN — Will Riley scored his 19 points in the second half and No. 25 Illinois beat Maryland Eastern Shore 87-40 on Saturday.
Kylan Boswell added 13 points, Tomislav Ivišić had 11 and Morez Johnson Jr. finished with 10 points and 13 rebounds for the Illini (4-1), who shot 25% (10-for-40) from 3-point range but committed just nine turnovers.
Tre White grabbed 11 rebounds and Kasparas Jakučionis seven for Illinois, which outrebounded the Hawks 59-38.
Jalen Ware scored 10 points and Christopher Flippin had 10 rebounds for Maryland Eastern Shore (2-6), which had its lowest point total of the season. The team’s previous low came in 102-63 loss to Vanderbilt on Nov. 4.
Illinois is unbeaten in four home games. Maryland Eastern Shore is winless in six road games.
The takeaways
Illinois: Coming off a 100-87 road loss Wednesday to No. 8 Alabama, the Illini had no trouble dominating the overmatched Hawks. They led 35-15 at halftime and extended the lead to as many as 52 in the second half.
Maryland Eastern Shore: The Hawks couldn’t match Illinois’ height and depth and were slowed by 15 turnovers.
Key moment
After struggling early, the Illini went on a 17-0 run over a seven-minute stretch to move in front 25-8 with 5:15 to go in the first half.
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Key stat
Maryland Eastern Shore struggled from the field, shooting 22% (15-for-68), including 5-for-20 on 3-pointers.
Up next
Illinois: Hosts Little Rock on Monday.
Maryland Eastern Shore: Plays at No. 20 Arkansas on Monday.
DePaul 98, Northern Illinois 52
Layden Blocker had 21 points and eight rebounds to lead the Blue Demons (6-0) at Wintrust Arena. Jacob Meyer added 14 points and Conor Enright 13 for the hosts. Quentin Jones finished with 16 points, Tsvet Sotirov scored 11 and Dominic Gooded 10 for the Huskies (2-4).
Loyola 89, Tulsa 53
Des Watson scored a game-high 19 points, Jayden Dawson had 15 and Sheldon Edwards 13 for the Ramblers, who improved to 6-0 with the easy win at Gentile Arena. Dwon Odom led the Golden Hurricane (3-3) with 10 points.
The Associated Press created portions of this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.