Southern Jaguars vs Illinois Fighting Illini Match Player Stats On Nov 10, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Nov 10, 2017

Head coach Brad Underwood's first game at his "dream job" was a success as Illinois rolled to a 102-55 victory over Southern University on Friday night in Champaign, Illinois.

Junior guard Aaron Jordan came off the bench to lead five Illinois scorers in double figures with a career-high 17 points. Senior swingman Mark Alstork added 17 points and 10 rebounds in his Illini debut, while junior forward Leron Black (14 points), sophomore forward Kipper Nichols (14 points) and junior forward Michael Finke (12 points) also hit double digits.

After orchestrating the nation's most efficient offense last year at Oklahoma State, Underwood's Illinois debut featured 51 percent shooting from the field and 92 percent at the line as the Fighting Illini (1-0) never trailed at State Farm Center.

Southern (0-1) received 21 points and 11 rebounds from senior power forward Jared Sam, the Jaguars' top returnee who averaged 13.6 points and 7.4 rebounds last year.

Both teams picked up fouls at a rapid rate from the start, which benefited Illinois more as the hosts canned 19 of 20 free throws in the first half. Wright State graduate transfer Alstork, who ranked 20th nationally last year with 178 free throws made, hit 9 of 10 in the first half to highlight a 13-point, six-rebound effort as Illinois led 53-31 at the break.

Freshman guard Mark Smith, the state of Illinois' 2017 Mr. Basketball and Underwood's first recruit, received a starting nod and dealt with foul trouble. He finished with nine points in 21 minutes.