Illinois 64, Valparaiso 52: Rayvonte Rice scored 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds as the Fighting Illini held off the visiting Crusaders.

Joseph Bertrand added 14 points and six rebounds for Illinois (3-0), which never trailed. Tracy Abrams chipped in with 12 points to hand the Fighting Illini their 25th straight home victory against non-conference opponents.

Jordan Coleman led the way with 15 points while LaVonte Dority scored 12 for Valparaiso (1-2), which fell to 0-6 all-time against the Fighting Illini. Alec Peters, who was named the Horizon League Freshman of the Week, recorded seven points and three rebounds.

Illinois jumped out to a 13-5 lead after hitting three of its first four attempts from beyond the arc before Valparaiso cut the deficit to two following Peters' layup with 6:59 left in the first half. The Fighting Illini made just 10 field goals, but took a 33-25 advantage into the break after Jon Ekey hit a 3-pointer with one second left in the half.

Abrams extended Illinois' lead to 10 midway through the second half but the Fighting Illini couldn't shake Valparaiso, which made it 49-47 with 6:43 to go. That's as close as the Crusaders would come as Illinois used a 15-5 spurt down the stretch to put it away.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Ekey grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds to go along with six points. … Valparaiso shot 33.3 percent from the field in the first half … The Fighting Illini had a 49-36 advantage over the Crusaders on the glass.