The start certainly wasn’t what the Illini were hoping for, falling behind 19-4 early before turning up the intensity and outscoring Penn State 94-62 the rest of the way and rolling to a Big Ten road win 98-81.

Ayo Dosunmu scored 30 points while dishing out 5 assists and grabbing 6 rebounds, while Kofi Cockburn added 23 dominating points around the hoop to lead the way. Andre Curbelo came off the bench for 15 points and 8 assists.

But it may have been the performance of Jacob Grandison that stole the show. The transfer forward played just 15 minutes but had 7 points and 7 rebounds and was a +23 on the plus minus chart due to his excellent effort.

Penn State shot 61% in the first half as they bolted to an early lead behind Myreon Jones (21 points) and Izaiah Brockington (21 points), but they didn’t have the firepower of the interior presence to hang with Illinois in the second half.

Here’s a recap.