CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Ben Humrichous scored a season-high 21 points as Illinois crushed Penn State 91-52 on Wednesday night at State Farm Center.
Three Illini topped the 20-point mark. Morez Johnson Jr. had a career-high 20 points along with 11 rebounds while Tre White also had 20 points.
Illinois was playing without leading scorer Kasparas Jakuciionis, one of the top freshmen in college basketball, who was sidelined with a bruised left forearm
No. 13 Illinois earned its fifth-consecutive victory and its fourth-straight conference win. The win vaulted Illinois to No. 6 in the NET and No. 7 on Kenpom.com.
"Nice game," Illini coach Brad Underwood said. "I thought we really guarded. To hold that team to 21 points in a half, they are averaging 88, was excepptional. That allowed us to get stops and get out and run. The rebounding helped to. I thought we did a nice job on the glass".
After falling behind 11-5 early in the first half, Illinois went on a 40-10 run to take a 45-21 lead into halftime. The Illini began that stretch with a 15-0 run over a 3:20 span. Humrichous scored 19 of his 21 points in the decisive first half, going 5-for-9 from 3- point range.
Illinois controlled the glass, outrebounding the Nittany Lions 57-32. The Illini grabbed 19 offensive rebounds and outscored Penn State on second chance points 18-2. Humrichous also added nine rebounds while Johnson posted his second double-double. White and big man Tomislav Ivisic added 7 rebounds each.
Penn State star Ace Baldwin Jr. aggravated a back injury early in the first half and didn't play in the second half. He didn't score, missing all six of his shots. Nick Kern Jr. had 13 points for the Nittany Lions while Zach Hicks added 11.
After Penn State ended its five-minute scoreless drought, Humrichous made 2's on back-to-back possessions to send Illinois' advantage into double digits for the first time, 26-13, with just over seven minutes remaining in the first half.
In the post game, Humrichous said the team knew it had to get strong efforts across the board in the absence of Jakucionis.
"Next guy up," Humrichous said. "We are a really talented team. We always miss having KJ out there. He's a great player and we love playing with him. But you just find out who's going to step up and make plays and ultimately come together as a team."
The 39-point margin of victory is the second-largest in the series with Penn State. Overall, Illinois has seven wins by at least 30 points this season.
Illinois now hosts USC on Saturday in the teams' first meeting as Big Ten foes. Tip off is set for for 11 a.m. CT on Big Ten Network.
