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Gibbs-Lawhorn hit 7 of 10 shots from the field
in his 20 minutes off the bench. Illinois All-Big Ten returnee
Terrence Shannon Jr. added 16 points and five rebounds, while
Luke Goode contributed nine points on 3-of-5 3-point shooting as
Illinois routed Eastern Illinois in the season opener for the
second year in a row.
Eastern Illinois, which played without top returning scorer
Caleb Donaldson, received 10 points and a game-high 11 rebounds
from Toledo transfer Kooper Jacobi. Starting point guard Tiger
Booker added nine points, but he canned just 2 of 13 shots as
the Panthers finished at 29 percent from the field.
Eastern Illinois led for much of the first half as Illinois,
which ranked last in the Big Ten and 340th in the country last
season with its 30.8 percent 3-point accuracy, missed 13 of its
first 14 3-point tries and six of its first eight free-throw
attempts.
The Panthers built a 15-6 lead in the first seven minutes as
Booker cashed a 3-pointer and a driving layup on back-to-back
possessions. Illinois pulled within 15-13 on a Ty Rodgers layup,
but former Illini center Jermaine Hamlin pulled off slick post
moves on consecutive possessions to restore a 19-14 advantage.
From that point forward, the Panthers struggled to score while
the Illini finally ignited their transition game. Gibbs-Lawhorn
reeled off six straight points in a 53-second stretch --
notching a putback, a driving scoop off the glass and a
breakaway dunk -- to give Illinois a 21-19 edge that forced
Eastern Illinois to call a timeout with 7:13 left in the half.
The Panthers stayed close until the final two minutes of the
half as Shannon sank two 3-pointers and Goode added a third to
stake Illinois to a 37-25 lead at the break.
Shannon started the second half equally hot as he slashed for a
lefty scoop and swished a 3-pointer from the wing in the opening
minute. When Rodgers added a layup on Illinois' next possession,
that made the score 44-25 and capped a 17-0 spree over a
4-minute, 25-second stretch bridging the halves.
Eastern Illinois never got closer than 16 points the rest of the
way.
--Field Level Media
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