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National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Illinois 93, Kennesaw St. 45
When: 9:00 PM ET, Saturday, December 27, 2014
Where: State Farm Center, Champaign, Illinois
Officials: # Lamont Simpson, # Donnie Eppley, # Tim Stewart
Attendance: 16158

Illinois 93, Kennesaw State 45: Rayvonte Rice scored 21 points on a perfect night of shooting from the field (7-of-7) as the Fighting Illini throttled the visiting Owls.

Rice, who hasn't missed a shot since his game-winning buzzer-beater Dec. 20 against Missouri, added six rebounds and Aaron Cosby came off the bench to score 13 points for Illinois (10-3), which won its 36th consecutive home game against a non-conference foe. Malcolm Hill had 16 points and grabbed nine boards.

Yonel Brown scored all 10 of his points in the second half for Kennesaw State (4-10), which shot 24.6 percent from the floor. Damien Wilson pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds and chipped in 10 points as a reserve.

Rice caught fire from the opening tip, knocking down his first five shots as the Illini surged ahead 31-15 with just under eight minutes to play in the first half. Kennesaw State went nearly 6 1/2 minutes without a basket, during which Illinois rattled of 25 straight points before settling for a 54-18 lead at the half.

Jaylon Tate dished an alley-oop pass to Leron Black for an emphatic jam to make it 70-25 with 12:30 to play in the second half and Cosby drained a 3-pointer two possessions later as the lead grew to 50. The Owls climbed within 84-42 on a 9-0 spurt but it was too little too late as Kennesaw State lost its third straight game.

GAME NOTEBOOK: The Owls went 5-of-28 from the field and turned the ball over 11 times in the first half. ... Rice notched his 14th career game with at least 20 points. ... Tate had a game-high seven assists and added five points off the bench for the Illini.
Top Game Performances
 
Kennesaw St.   Illinois
Yonel Brown 10 Scoring Rayvonte Rice 21
Delbert Love 3 Assists Jaylon Tate 7
Damien Wilson 11 Rebounds Malcolm Hill 9
Damien Wilson 3 Free Throws Made Rayvonte Rice 5
Delbert Love 2 Steals Malcolm Hill 2
Orlando Coleman 2 Blocks Nnanna Egwu 1
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Kennesaw St. 45 24.6 7-29 8-9 11 33 4 4 16
Illinois 93 55.4 7-21 14-18 19 42 2 4 6