Senior forward Ben Humrichous scored 19 of his season-high 21 points in the first half to spark No. 13 Illinois to a 91-52 victory over Penn State on Wednesday in Champaign, Ill.
The Fighting Illini prevailed despite the absence of leading scorer Kasparas Jakucionis. The freshman point guard, named to the Wooden Award Midseason Top 25 Watch list Tuesday, sat out due to an injured left forearm.
Tre White contributed 20 points and seven rebounds for the Illini (12-3, 4- 1 Big Ten). Freshman Morez Johnson Jr. added a career-high 20 points off the bench and pulled down 11 rebounds.
Nick Kern Jr. scored 13 points and Zach Hicks added 11 for the Nittany Lions (12-4, 2-3), who set a season low for points and finished 35 points below their average. Junior center Yanic Konan Niederhauser blocked a career-high seven shots.
Penn State’s Ace Baldwin Jr., who entered the night as the nation’s No. 4 assist man with 8.4 per game, went scoreless with two assists and three turnovers before taking a seat for good with 4:42 left in the first half. He did not return due to a back injury sustained while taking a charge in the game’s opening minute. Starting forward Puff Johnson (10.3 ppg) did not play.
Penn State broke to an 11-5 lead as Hicks nailed a 3-pointer and two free throws while Niederhauser swatted three shots in the first five minutes.
Illinois soon sorted out its offensive jitters with an 15-0 run that began with White’s alley-oop dunk from Tomislav Ivisic at the 14:16 mark and concluded with White’s 3-pointer with 10:56 left in the half.
Humrichous cashed 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions — his third and fourth of the half — to give Illinois a 26-13 lead with 7:11 to go before the break.
When Humrichous hit his fifth 3-pointer with 4:20 left, he capped a 34-4 Illinois run over a 10-minute stretch and gave the Illini a 39-15 lead. At that juncture, Humrichous owned more points (19) and field goals (seven) than Penn State.
Illinois carried a 45-21 lead into intermission, and Penn State never got closer than 22 the rest of the way. The Illini built their largest lead — the final score — on Will Riley’s 3-pointer in the final minute.
