Arkansas St. Red Wolves vs Illinois Fighting Illini Match Player Stats On Nov 12, 2021

Coleman Hawkins scored 17 points and grabbed 12 rebounds Friday night as No. 11 Illinois flexed its considerable muscles in a 92-53 rout of Arkansas State in Champaign, Ill.

Jacob Grandison added 15 points for the Fighting Illini (2-0) and Trent Frazier contributed 12 in his season debut. Frazier and Andre Curbelo, who chipped in eight points and seven assists, missed Tuesday night's 71-47 rout of Jackson State with injuries.

Illinois played its second straight game without preseason All-American center Kofi Cockburn, who is serving a three-game NCAA suspension for selling memorabilia before the state of Illinois passed legislation allowing college athletes to make money off their name, image and likeness.

But the Illini didn't need Cockburn against their Sun Belt Conference opponent. They clobbered the Red Wolves 56-32 on the boards, turning 24 offensive boards into 25 second-chance points, and forced 19 turnovers that were converted into 28 points.

Marquis Eaton scored 15 points to pace Arkansas State (1-1), which made only 30.5 percent of its field goal attempts, including a miserable 3 of 16 on 3-pointers.

About the only things Illinois didn't do well in this one were make long shots and unguarded ones. It connected on just 5 of 25 3-pointers and missed 15 of its 38 free throws.

Frazier gave the Illini their first double-figure lead when he sank a 3-pointer at the 13:34 mark of the first half to make it 14-4. At that point, the Red Wolves found a little traction, pulling within 20-16 when Eaton drilled a 3-pointer with 9:29 left.

Arkansas State was still within six points on Eaton's two free throws with 6:31 remaining when Illinois took charge. Beginning with Hawkins' layup at the 5:48 mark, the Illini unleashed a game-breaking 18-2 run to close the half.

Hawkins tallied seven points in the spurt, which ended when Utah transfer Alfonso Plummer canned a 3-pointer with 33 seconds remaining that sent Illinois into the locker room with a 48-26 advantage.

--Field Level Media