CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – North Carolina Central University held a one-point lead at the half, but Illinois mounted a second-half run to come away for an 86-73 win on Friday, Nov. 24 at the State Farm Center.

NCCU (2-6) again took an early lead with three-pointers from Reggie Gardner, Jr. (Bowie, Md.) and Zacarry Douglas (Landover, Md.) and led 6-2, but Illinois (6-0) worked its way back to tie and eventually went on a 14-0 run to put a damper on the Eagles early.
 
Once again, just like the game at Marshall, the Eagles were not rattled.  The maroon and gray held firm and eventually rattled off an 8-0 run to draw within four in the mid-stages of the half, capped by a transition jumper from the free throw line by C.J. Wiggins (Richmond, Va.).  The Illini held a slim lead, but the Eagles eventually snatched it from them as Gardner nailed a corner trey with three seconds remaining in the half to give the Eagles a 35-34 advantage at the break.
 
Illinois flipped the script in the second half, and went on a run to expand the lead on a volley of threes from Michael Finke (Champaign, Ill.) and the Illini held the Eagles at bay for the remainder of the contest.
 
Pablo Rivas (Colon, Panama) pulled down his first double-double of the year for NCCU with 11 points and 10 boards, and Gardner dropped in a team-high 18 points on five made triples.  Douglas contributed 11 points with 8 rebounds as well.
 
The Eagles as a team shot 60 percent from the perimeter (6-10) and close to 50 percent from the floor as they made 22 of 46 attempts.
 
Finke finished with a game-high 22 points for the Illini along with six rebounds, and Leron Black (Memphis, Tenn.) had 12 points and a team-high 8 rebounds.  Kipper Nichols (Cleveland, Ohio) put in 14 points and Aaron Jordan (Plainfield, Ill.) notched 16 to make a total of four Illinois players with 10+ points.
 
NCCU finishes the road trip at Southeast Missouri State on Sunday, Nov. 26.