No. 13 Illinois outlasts Minnesota in back-and-forth clash

[February 29, 2024]  Terrence Shannon Jr. had 29 points and Marcus Domask scored 18 of his 22 points in the second half as No. 13 Illinois topped Minnesota 105-97 on Wednesday night in Champaign, Ill.
 
Coleman Hawkins posted 20 points while Dain Dainja added 11 points and Quincy Guerrier notched 10 for the Illini (21-7, 12-5 Big Ten), who shot 61.3 percent from the floor to eclipse the 100-point mark in a regulation Big Ten game for the first time since Jan. 19, 1994.  

Feb 28, 2024; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini forward Coleman Hawkins (33) shoots the ball during the first half against the Minnesota Golden gophers at State Farm Center. Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

Dawson Garcia delivered 29 points while freshman Cam Christie contributed a career-high 23 for Minnesota (17-11, 8-9), which lost despite shooting 60 percent from the floor and hitting 14 of 20 3-point attempts. Mike Mitchell Jr. scored 17 points while Big Ten assists leader Elijah Hawkins added 10 points and 12 assists.

Illinois carried a 48-45 lead into halftime after a back-and-forth 20 minutes that quickly became a duel between the Illini's Coleman Hawkins and Shannon and Minnesota's Christie and Garcia.

Coleman Hawkins, fresh from scoring a career-high 30 points Saturday against Iowa, drilled a pair of 3-pointers and a running bank shot in the opening three minutes to stake Illinois to an 8-7 lead.

But Garcia scored 10 points in the opening eight minutes and Christie, who grew up in Illinois, swished knocked down a pair of 3-pointers and two free throws in the first seven minutes. The Gophers took a 20-18 lead after Garcia canned a 3-pointer with 12:28 left in the half, matching their point total for the entire first half of their 73-55 loss at Nebraska on Sunday.

Christie and Garcia combined for 31 points and 21 shots from the floor in the first half while Hawkins and Shannon teamed up for 28 points on 17 shots.

The points and the lead changes kept flowing early in the second half as Elijah Hawkins shrugged off a scoreless first half with seven points in the first five minutes while setting up five more points with two assists to help Minnesota take a 61-60 lead.

Shannon carried the load for Illinois with 10 points in the opening eight minutes of the second half as his 3-pointer from the corner at the 12:07 mark lifted the Illini to a 70-65 lead. The Gophers got as close as 72-70 on Christie's 3-pointer with 10:47 left in the half, but Domask kept taking smaller defenders into the post. He hit his first six shots of the second half as the Illini gradually pulled away.

--Field Level Media

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