Kylan Boswell pumped in a game-high 31 points and grabbed 10 rebounds Friday night as No. 17 Illinois blew out visiting Florida Gulf Coast 113-70 in Champaign, Ill.
Boswell canned 8 of 13 shots from the field, including 4 of 7 on 3-pointers, and hit 11 of 13 at the foul line as the Fighting Illini (2-0) scored in triple figures for the second straight game. Freshman guard Keaton Wagler added 22 points on 7 of 9 shooting and collected seven rebounds.
Another freshman, David Mirkovic, scored 17 points and ripped down 11 boards. Zvonimir Ivisic contributed 16 points and nine rebounds as Illinois made 55.4% from the field and controlled the boards 51-30.
JR Konieczny scored 26 points, going 8 of 16 from the field, for the Eagles (1-1), but his considerable efforts weren’t enough. In a game where it committed just one turnover, FGCU hit only 26 of 79 attempts from the floor (32.9%), including a pitiful 7 of 27 on 3-pointers.
The Illini’s superior height led to easy points all night long. They nearly doubled up the Eagles 48-28 in paint points and collected 17 points off 11 offensive boards. They also sank 30 of 34 foul shots, a major advantage over FGCU, which was 11 of 12.
Boswell got off the mark in a hurry, scoring six points during a game-opening 18-1 run in the first 6:15. The margin reached 20 for the first time at the 10:57 mark of the first half when Ben Humrichous fed Wagler for a layup.
It got to 30 on Andrej Stojakovic’s mid-range jumper with 6:51 left that made it 45-15. Wagler canned two foul shots with 17 seconds remaining after grabbing an offensive board, upping the cushion to 59-27 at the break.
Boswell put back his missed shot with 14:46 left for a 72-31 advantage and the margin climbed to 50 at the 11 minute mark via a dunk by Jason Jakstys.
Humrichous’ layup with 4:10 remaining got Illinois over 100 points.
