Sport Dosunmu, Curbelo lead No. 8 Illinois past Chicago State

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — Ayo Dosunmu scored 22 points, freshman Andres Curbelo added 18 and No. 8 Illinois beat Chicago State 97-38 on Thursday.

© Provided by Associated Press Illinois guard Ayo Dosunmu (11) shoots as Chicago State's forward Carlo Marble (10) defends during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in Champaign, Ill., Thursday, Nov. 26, 2020. (Robin Scholz/The News-Gazette via AP)

The Illini (2-0, 0-0 Big Ten) never trailed in the game, scoring the first nine points and leading 47-17 at halftime. Big man Kofi Cockburn had 13 points and 5 rebounds at the break.

© Provided by Associated Press Illinois guard Andre Curbelo (5) defends as Chicago State's guard Xavier Johnson (5) looks to pass while Illinois head coach Brad Underwood, right, watches during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Champaign, Ill., Thursday, Nov. 26, 2020. (Robin Scholz/The News-Gazette via AP)

Adam Miller scored 15 points and Cockburn finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds. It was Cockburn’s 14th double-double in 34 career games and his second consecutive one. He had one more rebound than the entire Chicago State team did.

26 Secrets About Home Alone That Will Leave You Thirsty For More

Happy birthday, ya filthy animal! It's been 30 years since Home Alone filmmaker John Hughes introduced us to the forgetful McAllister family and their plucky son Kevin.Sorry, those are just facts.

Quamdeen "Ayo" Dosunmu (born January 17, 2000) is an American college basketball player for the Illinois Fighting Illini of the Big Ten Conference.

Ayo Dosunmu scored a careerhigh 28 points, freshman Adam Miller also scored 28 and No . 8 Illinois beat North Carolina A&T 12260 on Wednesday in the season Illinois : Hosts Chicago State in the second round of the tournament on Thursday. The Cougars replaced Wright State , who withdrew on

© Provided by Associated Press Illinois guard Andre Curbelo (5) shoots over Chicago State's guard Xavier Johnson (5) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in Champaign, Ill., Thursday, Nov. 26, 2020. (Robin Scholz/The News-Gazette via AP)

Illinois shot 36 of 60 (60%) from the field and 7 of 18 (39%) from 3-point range.

Xavier Johnson led Chicago State (0-2, 0-0 Western Athletic Conference) with 10 points and Jordan Polynice had nine.

SETTING UP THE RUN

Illinois used its huge rebounding edge (55-10) to fuel its running game.

© Provided by Associated Press Illinois center Kofi Cockburn (21) shoots against Chicago State during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Champaign, Ill., Thursday, Nov. 26, 2020. (Robin Scholz/The News-Gazette via AP)

“Definitely rebounding is key and will be through the end of the season,” Illinois coach Brad Underwood said. “It gives us that ability to get the break and run.”

Pfizer to seek approval from FDA 'within days' after further analysis finds COVID-19 vaccine 95% effective

Pfizer and BioNTech are expected to produce up to 50 million doses globally in 2020 and up to 1.3 billion doses by the end of 2021. The news comes days after Moderna, a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based biotechnology company, announced early Monday its candidate vaccine, mRNA-1273, developed in collaboration with the U.S. government, appeared to be 94.5% effective against COVID-19.

Dosunmu , meanwhile, unveiled a new outside shot that featured much more arc than last year -- when he canned just 29.6 percent of his 3-point attempts. While Illinois appeared to be in midseason form -- shooting 58.7 percent from the field and outrebounding North One bright spot for Chicago State ?

Ayo Dosunmu scores 18 points to lead Illinois past Nebraska. The result moved the Illinois into a five-way tie for second place in the Big Ten. CHAMPAIGN — After a signature road win against then-No. 9 Penn State nearly a week ago, Illinois coach Brad Underwood was concerned about the

Underwood was particularly impressed with Cockburn's play under the basket.

“Kofi puts on a lot of pressure in front of the rim and that leads to a lot of fouls on the other guys,” Underwood said.

© Provided by Associated Press Illinois guards Ayo Dosunmu, right, and Trent Frazier (1) chat on the bench during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Chicago State in Champaign, Ill., Thursday, Nov. 26, 2020. (Robin Scholz/The News-Gazette via AP)

Said the 7-foot-1 sophomore from Jamaica: “I just go out there and do what I have to do. I just need to go out there and do it every day.”

Gallery: The Best Photos of the 2020-2021 NCAA Basketball Season (imagn)

DEFENSE

Illinois senior guard Trent Frazier, the team's leader on the court, can get hot offensively and has been known to rain down 3-pointers on opponents. But his main claim to fame is his smothering defense, considered among the best in the Big Ten.

Illinois hilariously taunted Nebraska on Twitter after blowout win

The Illinois Fighting Illini turned in a rather convincing win over Nebraska on Saturday, and they rubbed it in afterward on Twitter. © Bruce Thorson-USA TODAY Sports Illinois beat Nebraska 41-23. The loss dropped the Huskers to 1-3. They were widely credited as one of two schools most aggressive in getting the Big Ten to start its season. The Illinois Twitter account acknowledged that in thanking them for the game. Good game Nebraska. Thanks for bringing back B1G football. — Illinois Athletics (@IlliniAthletics) November 21, 2020 That’s just plain brutal.

Highlights of Morgan Park's ( Chicago , IL ) 4-star combo guard Ayo Dosunmu at The 8 in Las Vegas. Bigfoot Hoops. Subscribe to the MaxPreps Channel HERE: http

Ayo Dosunmu starred in his return from injury after getting hurt on the final play of Illinois ' dramatic 70-69 loss to Michigan State . Dosunmu was the best player on the floor, pouring in a game-high 24 points that included the team's final field goal to ice the victory.

Thursday was no exception.

“These first few games are for playing time and gaining confidence,” Frazier said. “I think we were all on the same page out there today. Defense is something we work hard on.”

COUGAR WOES

The tournament hasn’t been productive for Chicago State, a last-minute addition to the four-team tournament when Wright State pulled out due to COVID-19 concerns. Ohio beat the Cougars 86-61 on Wednesday.

Chicago State coach Lance Irvin has opted out of the season due to COVID-19 concerns. Assistant Rodell Davis is coaching the team in Irvin’s absence.

“I think this helps us moving forward into conference play,” Davis said.

BIG PICTURE

Underwood’s game plan focused on forcing the ball inside after his team hit a program-record 17 3-pointers on Wednesday in a 122-60 rout of North Carolina A&T.

It worked. Illinois scored 52 points in the paint on Thursday, many of them on dunks and layups after beating the Cougars’ defense.

POLL IMPLICATIONS

While this four-team nonconference tournament is a good way to gauge Illinois' talent and deep bench, two blowout wins do little to move the needle for the Illini. The first test will be facing a fairly good Ohio team in Friday's game. A misstep at this point could cost the Illini its top-10 ranking.

UP NEXT

Chicago State: Plays North Carolina A&T in the third round of the tournament on Friday.

Illinois: Hosts Ohio in the third round of the tournament Friday before facing its first real test on Dec. 2 against No. 2 Baylor.

___

More AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25