Jax State
0-2
Illinois
2-0
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jacksonville State | 27 | 35 | 62 |
| Illinois | 40 | 46 | 86 |
11/10/2013 7:25:00 PM | Men's Basketball
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – A slow start by the Jacksonville State men's basketball team opened the door for Illinois on Sunday, and the Illini jumped out to an early lead and held on for an 86-62 win at the State Farm Center.
The Gamecocks (0-2) couldn't recover from the slow start and shot .329 from the floor, while the Illini (2-0) seemingly couldn't miss on a night that saw them shoot .525 on their end.
Senior Brian Williams led JSU with 12 points and was the only player in red in double figures. The Lawrenceville, Ga., native runs his career total to 962 and moves past Courtney Bradley into fifth on the school's Division I career scoring list.
Against a bigger Illini lineup that outrebounded their opening foe by 24 boards, the Gamecocks won the battle on the glass, 44-37. Junior D.J. Felder and senior Nick Cook each had 10 boards to lead that charge, while adding eight and seven points, respectively, in the loss. Sophomore Mike Louder had a career-high seven points and four boards off of the bench, while junior Darion Rackley managed eight points.
Joseph Bertrand led the UI charge with a double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds, while Tracy Abrams and Rayvonte Rice each had 13 points. Nnanna Egwu and Jaylon Tate each added 10, while Egwu had seven boards and five of his team's 11 blocks.
The Gamecocks struggled out of the gates, going 5:18 after the opening tip before Rackley found the basket for their first field goal of the game. In the meantime, the Illini stormed out of the gates to build as much as a 16-point lead in the first half.
JSU found ways to keep it from getting further out of hand and went into the halftime locker room trailing 40-27.
Rackley had eight to lead JSU in the first half, while the trio of Egwu, Bertrand and Rice were a combined 11-for-13 to score 30 points in the half. Bertrands' 14 led all players, while JSU held a slight advantage on the glass at the midway point.
Williams opened the second half with a pair of 3-pointers that cut the Illini lead to single digits in the first four minutes, but the Illini had another answer. Tate scored six of their next eight points to stretch their lead to 57-40 by the second media timeout.
Illinois had a counter for every punch the Gamecocks threw at them down the stretch to hold on for the win.
The Gamecocks now move on to Chicago for their third game in the state of Illinois in five days. They play at Chicago State on Tuesday at 7 p.m. CT in a game that will be broadcast live on the JSU Radio Network. The Cougars also offer a video stream of the game on their site, www.gocsucougars.com.
