No. 22 Illinois comes west, wipes out No. 9 Oregon

[Emile]

January 3 - Ben Humrichous scored 14 of his 18 points in the second half Thursday night and No. 22 Illinois opened its first West Coast swing in the Big Ten Conference with a 109-77 beatdown of ninth-ranked Oregon in Eugene.

Humrichous, an Evansville transfer, sank four of the Fighting Illini's 16 3-pointers. Teammate Tre White stuffed the stat sheet with 20 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and two blocks, while freshman Kasparas Jakucionis hit for 16 points and Arizona transfer Kylan Boswell added 15.

Illinois (10-3, 2-1 Big Ten) also got help in the first half from reserves Jake Davis (12 points) and Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn (11). In bagging their third straight impressive win since a two-point loss last month against No. 1 Tennessee, the Illini sank 57.5 percent of their field-goal attempts and earned a 43-31 advantage on the boards.

Four players scored in double figures for the Ducks (12-2, 1-2), led by 20 points off the bench from Supreme Cook. Nate Bittle added 13, while Kwame Evans scored 11 points in a reserve role and TJ Bamba hit for 10.

Continued at:
https://www.reuters.com/sports/basketball/no-22-illinois-comes-west-wipes-out-no-9-oregon-2025-01-03/

[boonecreek]

1. Oregon is having a tough week.

First losing to Ohio State by 20 points in the
NCAA football playoffs now this. Will be
interesting to see how the basketball rankings change.

[Emile]

2. Jakucionis made a backward pass between his

legs to Ben Humrichous and Humrichous nails a three pointer. My mouth dropped to the floor!
Illinois has built a fantastic young team. Their ranking should be in the top ten. I'm betting if they beat Washington on Sunday, they'll be ranked #9.

[boonecreek]

3. Just saw that

on a highlights vid. Just incredible. They must practice that move.