Jake Davis scored 15 points and Keaton Wagler had a double-double of 11 points and 10 assists as No. 20 Illinois routed Southern 90-55 Monday in Champaign, Illinois.
Zvonimir Ivisic (13 points), Tomislav Ivisic (11) and David Mirkovic (11) also scored in double figures for the Fighting Illini, who led by 36.
Playing for the first time since a 44-point loss at Baylor on Dec. 21, Southern (4-9) lost its fifth straight game.
Illinois had been inactive since dominating Missouri 91-48 in St. Louis on Dec. 22 and nearly held an opponent under 50 points for the second straight game.
The Jaguars shot 34.8% overall and 3 of 14 from 3-point range. That compares to 51.7 percent and 14 of 34 for the Fighting Illini (10-3).
Michael Jacobs led Southern with 11 points on 3-of-16 shooting from the field. Malek Abdelgowad follows with 10 points.
Davis went 5 of 6 from long range while Zvonimir Ivisic was 3 of 5.
Wagler made a 3-pointer on the first possession and the Fighting Illini never looked back – or trailed.
Abdelgowad responded with a jumper for the Jaguars on their first drive down the field, but Illinois hardly broke a sweat, taking a double-digit lead midway through the first half.
The Fighting Illini briefly faced adversity in the opening minutes when Kylan Boswell landed awkwardly while jumping for a rebound and rolled his ankle. He returned to the locker room but returned to play 23 minutes, contributing eight points.
Illinois stretched the advantage to 21 in the first half and took a 46-25 advantage into the break thanks to consistency from beyond the arc. Six different players connected from deep in the first half, with Davis setting the tone with a 3-for-4 effort.
After a Tomislav Ivisic dunk put Illinois ahead 27-12 at 6:35 of the first half, the hosts closed with five 3s before the end of the half, including makes from Davis and Boswell in a span of 30 seconds.
Illinois finished plus-19 (45-26) on the glass. Tomislav Ivisic and Wagler both grabbed seven rebounds. Zvonimir Ivisic added three blocks.
Wagler has a double-double in two of the last three games.
Illinois took a 3-0 lead in the all-time series.
–Field level media
