Illinois 80, North Dakota State 74

[November 16, 2015]  Faced with the prospect of its first 0-2 start since 1923, Illinois rallied from an 11-point halftime deficit to pull off an 80-74 victory over North Dakota State on Sunday afternoon at the Prairie Capital Convention Center in Springfield.

The Illini took their first lead since 2-0 when senior center Mike Thorne Jr. converted a 3-point play with 5:39 left to give the hosts a 60-57 edge.

Thorne, a graduate transfer from Charlotte, paced Illinois (1-1) with 21 points and eight rebounds in 23 minutes. Junior Malcolm Hill, moved to point guard due to injuries, posted 15 points and five assists while freshman guard Jalen Coleman-Lands delivered 15 points and four steals off the bench.

North Dakota State (1-1) received 19 points from sophomore shooting guard Paul Miller, which included 4 of 9 shooting on 3-pointers. Sophomore guard Malik Clements came off the bench to contribute 16 points and a team-high 6 rebounds.

The Bison, who have played in the last two NCAA Tournaments, hit the Illini early with a flurry of 3-pointers just as North Florida did in its upset of Illinois on Friday night. Miller swished three 3-pointers in the opening 10 minutes as NDSU built a 24-12 lead on the way to a 39-28 advantage at the break.

North Dakota State enjoyed its last double-figure lead when Clements hit a 3-pointer with 10:28 to go to make it 54-44.

That's when the Illini started to take advantage of the 6-foot-11, 270-pound Thorne inside. His layup and free throw with 9:57 left triggered a 16-3 run capped by another Thorne 3-point play at the 5:39 mark.

Illinois played without its starting backcourt. Junior shooting guard Kendrick Nunn (left thumb surgery) and junior point guard Jaylon Tate (finger surgery) are out for an extended period. Sophomore power forward Leron Black, who had surgery to repair torn meniscus cartilage in his knee, came off the bench to make his season debut and contributed 5 points and 5 rebounds in 15 minutes.

North Dakota State remains without starting senior center Chris Kading, who might miss the entire non-conference slate while recovering from offseason surgery. The Bison's record against Big Ten foes dropped to 1-11.

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