Freshman center Kofi Cockburn continued his strong start, racking up his fifth double-double with 20 points and 13 rebounds as Illinois scored 62 points in the first half to cruise to a 120-71 victory over Hampton on Saturday night in Champaign, Ill.
Cockburn shot 8-for-10 from the field to lead a balanced attack that included five players with 14 or more points. Ayo Dosunmu also scored 20 on 9-for-13 shooting, Andres Feliz added 19 and five assists and Alan Griffin made three 3-pointers to also end with 19. Giorgi Bezhanishvili tallied 14 points, five boards and four assists.
The Illini (5-1) eclipsed the century mark for the first time this season and scored their most points of third-year coach Brad Underwood's tenure.
The Illini defense clamped down on Hampton senior guard Jermaine Marrow, who was ranked second in the country with an average of 27.0 points per game. He made just four of his first 12 shots to finish with 22 points on 8-for-22 shooting. Benjamin Stanley added 20 points for the Pirates (3-2).
Illinois relied on two early runs to gain control and win its third consecutive game.
The Illini jumped out to a 14-3 lead after Dosunmu drilled a 3-pointer. Cockburn scored on a layup to pad the lead to 28-7 to cap a 14-4 run. The Illini made 14 of their first 24 shots to take a 35-15 lead.
Griffin, the son of Toronto Raptors assistant coach Adrian Griffin, went on a scoring spree late in the half. The sophomore guard scored 11 straight points for the Illinois, hitting three treys to balloon the lead to 56-29.
Griffin added a dunk for 17 first-half points on 7-for-10 shooting to spark the Illini to a 62-31 lead. Illinois had a terrific first half, shooting 61 percent, scoring 21 fast-break points, and dishing 16 assists without committing a turnover.
--Field Level Media
Hampton | Illinois | |
Jermaine Marrow 22 | Scoring | Kofi Cockburn 20 |
Jermaine Marrow 6 | Assists | Andres Feliz 5 |
Ben Stanley 5 | Rebounds | Kofi Cockburn 13 |
Jermaine Marrow 4 | Free Throws Made | Giorgi Bezhanishvili 7 |
Daniel Banister 2 | Steals | Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk 2 |
N/A | Blocks | Giorgi Bezhanishvili 1 |