Coleman Hawkins posted a season-high 16 points to lead a balanced attack as No. 16 Illinois never trailed in a 74-57 nonconference victory over Colgate Sunday in Champaign, Ill.
Quincy Guerrier and Marcus Domask notched 15 points apiece for the Illini (8-2) while All-America candidate Terrence Shannon Jr. scored all 14 of his points in the first half and racked up a career-high five blocks while limiting Colgate’s top scorer, Braeden Smith, to a season-low two points.
Jeff Woodward’s season-high 14 points served as the only double-figure entry for Colgate (6-5), which got as close as nine points after trailing by 22 with 13 minutes to go.
Illinois scored nine points before Colgate was able to get a shot on the rim. Shannon drilled a 3-pointer, Guerrier swished two free throws and threw down a dunk off a Ty Rodgers drive and Hawkins finished a pick-and-roll with a layup that gave Illinois a 9-0 lead and forced the Raiders to call a timeout barely two minutes into the game.
The Illini pushed their lead to 14-0 at the 16:37 mark – Hawkins hitting a 3 and Guerrier providing a putback – before Ryan Moffatt got Colgate on the board with a second-chance 3-pointer and a driving layup.
Illinois’ lead stood at 23-11 when Colgate ditched its man-to-man in favor of a 3-2 zone that bothered the Illini briefly. The Raiders got as close as 23-16 – highlighted by Parker Jones finding Sam Thomson in transition for a breakaway dunk – before Hawkins found Rodgers for a layup, Shannon drilled a 3 and Hawkins added another 3 to restore a 31-16 advantage.
Illinois carried a 44-27 lead into the break. Both teams struggled offensively at the outset of the second half as Illinois missed 12 of its first 13 shots and Colgate canned just one of its first 10 – but the Raiders got hot soon thereafter.
The Illini built a 58-37 lead on Guerrier’s 3-pointer from the top of the key with 8:50 to go, but Colgate responded with 11 points in a row – highlighted by a rare 3-pointer by 6-foot-11 center Keegan Records – to slash the margin to 58-48 with 5:42 remaining.
The Raiders pulled within single digits for the first time since the 8:45 mark of the first half when Jalen Cox turned a leaner into a 3-point play to make it 62-53 with 3:34 to go.
Illinois’ Domask, beset by foul trouble, answered with his first 3-pointer of the game and Colgate never got closer than 10 again.
– Field Level Media
