No. 3 Illini get back to winning ways vs. Sam Houston

Tomislav Ivisic had a career-high 28 points, Andrej Stojakovic added 26 and No. 3 Illinois bounced back from its first loss this season with a 108-86 victory over Sam Houston on Friday night in Champaign.

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Coming off an 84-78 defeat Tuesday night at No. 16 Texas Tech, the Fighting Illini (3-1) pulled away from the Bearkats by scoring 63 points in the second half to set up a high-profile showdown with No. 2 Duke next week.

After trailing 45-40 at halftime, Sam Houston (2-2) went in front 57-56 with 15:58 left on a fast-break dunk by Enel St. Bernard. Ivisic answered 14 seconds later with a 3-pointer that launched an 11-0 run for the Illini, who never trailed again.

Ivisic scored 10 of the first 14 points for Illinois in the second half. He briefly left the court midway through the period after being elbowed in the mouth, but returned and finished the game.

Stefan Vaaks scored 14 points off the bench, and Quentin Coleman had 11 points, eight rebounds and six assists for Illinois. Ethan Brown also scored 11.

Justin Begg had 19 points and 10 assists for the Bearkats. Aidan McDowell also scored 19 points, Yoda Oke added 14 off the bench and Jacobe Coleman finished with 11.

The Illini forced 14 turnovers, converting them into 19 points, and had nine steals and six blocks.

Illinois is 3-0 at home and has scored at least 108 points in all three blowouts.

It was the first game between Illinois and Sam Houston, but Illini coach Brad Underwood improved to 9-0 against the Bearkats. The first eight wins came in the Southland Conference from 2013-16 when Underwood was the coach at Stephen F. Austin.

Sam Houston visits Wyoming on Tuesday.

Illinois plays at No. 2 Duke on Tuesday.

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