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Illinois Routes Monmouth

Terrence Shannon Jr. had a career-high 30 points and eight rebounds to lead No. 19 Illinois to a 103-65 win over Monmouth on Monday night.

 

Freshman guard Jayden Epps scored a season-high 21 points and Dain Dainja finished with 15 points on 7-for-9 shooting for the Illini (3-0).

 

Andrew Ball scored 13 points to lead Monmouth (0-3), and Jack Collins added 12.

 

Illinois made its first five shots — four of them 3s — and hit nine of its first 12 shots to sprint out to a 24-9 lead. It was a sharp contrast from a 1-for-18 start from the field in a win over Kansas City last Friday.

 

Illinois led 8-0 just 44 seconds in thanks to a 3 by Shannon, a steal and layup from RJ Melendez and a 3 from Skyy Clark. Clark pushed the Illini lead to double digits with a decisive crossover in transition and a layup, part of a 31-5 run that included four buckets from Shannon and four from Dainja.

 

Clark finished with a season-high six assists.

 

Illinois led 63-33 at halftime after shooting 76.7% in the first half.

 

Monmouth coach King Rice credited the Illini’s ball movement and said having multiple players who can knock down perimeter shots makes them difficult to slow down.

 

Illinois heads to Las Vegas to take on No. 8 UCLA on Friday.

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