Jackson-Davis leads Indiana in rout of Illinois

CHAMPAIGN — Trayce Jackson-Davis scored a season-high 35 points and Indiana earned its first regular-season win over Illinois since 2019 with an 80-65 victory on Thursday night. 

Indiana shot a season-high 61.8% from the field, knocking down 34 of 55 attempts, including 3 of 9 from distance. The Hoosiers grabbed the lead on Jordon Geronimo’s 3 more than three minutes into the game.

Indiana (12-6, 3-4 Big 10) led by as many as 19 in the first half, but Illinois rallied. Terrence Shannon Jr. hit two 3-pointers and RJ Melendez hit a 3 at the first-half buzzer to get within 10, 43-33. Sencire Harris’ layup to start the second half got the Illini within single digits, but Jackson-Davis dunked and his jumper with 10:48 left made it a 20-point lead, 64-44.

Jackson-Davis hit 15 of 19 shots from the field, grabbed nine rebounds and added five assists and three blocked shots. Geronimo added 13 points and grabbed eight rebounds with three blocked shots. Trey Galloway and Jalen Hood-Schifino added 11 and 10 points, respectively,

Shannon finished with 26 points to lead Illinois (13-6, 4-4). Melendez added 10 points.

Indiana plays host to Michigan State on Sunday, Illinois, which had its four-game win streak snapped, plays host to Ohio State on Tuesday.