MINNEAPOLIS — Will Riley had 27 points, nine rebounds and seven assists off the bench and Kasparas Jakučionis scored 24 points to help No. 23 Illinois get back on track with a 95-74 victory over Minnesota on Saturday night.
Tomislav Ivišić added 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Illini (16-8, 8-6 Big Ten), who lost four of their previous six games.
Femi Odukale had a season-high 22 points and Lu’Cye Patterson added 19 for the Gophers (12-12, 4-9), who got only 12 points on 4-for-14 shooting from the Big Ten’s second-leading scorer, Dawson Garcia.
Illnesses and injuries factored in the Illini’s recent struggles. Despite 7-foot-1 center Ivišić playing through an ankle injury suffered during a loss at Rutgers on Thursday, they were closer to full strength — and it showed. The nation’s leading rebounding team had a 50-26 advantage in points in the paint.
Illinois has won eight straight in the series by an average margin of 18 points and is 38-8 against Minnesota in this century.
Takeaways
Illinois: Jakučionis, the freshman standout from Lithuania, matched his career high in scoring to fuel the ninth game of 90-plus points for the Illini this season. They are averaging 85 points per game, the highest mark since the 1988-89 team that reached the NCAA Final Four.
Minnesota: Despite hitting their first three 3-pointers for the fast start they wanted, the Gophers had nothing else to lean on when their outside shots cooled off.
Key moment
After Odukale’s 3-pointer cut Minnesota’s deficit to seven, Ivisic backed Patterson into the paint and used an 11-inch height advantage for a drop-step layup with 1:45 left before halftime.
Key stat
The Illini are 33-25 in Big Ten road games over the last six seasons, the best record in the conference.
Up next
Illinois plays host to UCLA on Tuesday. Minnesota plays at USC on Saturday.
