Tomislav Ivisic Drops Career-High 28 as No. 3 Illinois Bounces Back Past Sam Houston 108-86

Tomislav Ivisic picked a good night to get hot. Three days after a loss in Lubbock knocked some of the shine off a 2-0 start, the fifth-year center buried six 3-pointers, scored 28 points and dragged No. 3 Illinois through the one stretch of Friday night when Sam Houston looked like it might actually steal something. The Illini won 108-86 in front of 15,544 at State Farm Center, cracking 100 points for the third time in four games.

Andrej Stojakovic added 26 points, Stefan Vaaks scored 14 off the bench, and Illinois turned 14 Bearkat turnovers into 19 points while giving up just two points off its own six giveaways. It was not a clean 40 minutes. Sam Houston led as late as the 15:53 mark of the second half and shot 42.4 percent from deep. But when the Bearkats pushed, the Illini had an answer every time, and the answer was usually an Ivisic.

Illinois is now 3-1. Sam Houston fell to 2-2.

A Game, Then a Burst

For the first 10 minutes this looked like a real contest. Aidan McDowell opened the scoring with a layup and a 3, Justin Begg converted an and-one, and the lead swapped hands again and again. Zion Pipkin hit a 3 to put Sam Houston up 13-11, and Yoda Oke came off the bench to drain back-to-back 3s, the second giving the Bearkats a 19-18 lead with 10:40 left in the half.

Then Illinois woke up. Tomislav Ivisic split two free throws to take the lead back, Stojakovic threw down a dunk, Ivisic hit a 3, Quentin Coleman scored at the rim and Stojakovic finished another layup. In about 90 seconds of game time, an 11-0 run turned a 19-18 deficit into a 29-19 lead.

Credit the Bearkats for not folding. Begg and Matt Dann kept attacking the paint, and McDowell hit two more from deep in the final two minutes to cut it to 43-38. Enel St. Bernard's jumper with 35 seconds left made it 45-40 at the break.

Sam Houston Takes Its Shot

The Bearkats came out of the locker room swinging. Jacobe Coleman scored inside, Begg finished a layup and Riccardo Greppi threw down a dunk to make it 49-46. Then the 3s started falling. McDowell hit one, Jacobe Coleman hit two more in less than a minute, and St. Bernard's dunk with 15:53 to play gave Sam Houston a 57-56 lead.

Tomislav Ivisic was the only thing keeping Illinois afloat. Between Lincoln Williams' free throws at 18:50 and the 15:45 mark, every Illinois point came from Tomislav Ivisic: a 3, a jumper, a layup and another 3. That last one, eight seconds after St. Bernard's dunk, put Illinois back on top 59-57. Sam Houston would never lead again.

The Turning Point: Three Straight 3s

What followed was the stretch that decided the night. After Tomislav Ivisic's go-ahead triple, Zvonimir Ivisic hit a 3 at 14:51. Ethan Brown followed with another at 14:11. Quentin Coleman scored at the rim at 13:36. Just like that, a one-point Sam Houston lead had become an 11-0 Illinois run and a 67-57 cushion.

The Bearkats hung around a bit longer. Begg made four straight free throws, and Oke hit another 3 to make it 71-64 with 12:03 left. But Illinois broke it open for good with an 8-0 burst built on Zvonimir Ivisic's dunk, two Stojakovic trips to the rim or the line and a Vaaks three-point play. Zavier Zens and Brown then hit 3s 33 seconds apart, making it 88-71 with 7:58 left, and the rest was garnish. Tomislav Ivisic's layup at 2:54 made it a 20-point game, and Lucas Morillo's layup with 27 seconds left made it 108-85, the largest lead of the night.

Ivisic and Stojakovic Carry the Load

Illinois Athletics called it a career-high night for Tomislav Ivisic, and the six 3s tied his career best. The fifth-year center went 10-of-21 from the field, 6-of-14 from 3 and 2-of-2 at the line in just 22 minutes, adding five rebounds and two blocks. Ivisic came in averaging 8.7 points. A center who can stretch a defense like this changes how teams have to guard Illinois.

Stojakovic was steadier, and maybe more important. The senior guard scored a season-high 26, his third 20-point game of the year, on 10-of-16 shooting without making a 3, living at the rim and getting to the free throw line nine times. Stojakovic also handed out five assists and did not commit a turnover in 33 minutes.

The freshmen did the connective work. Brown finished with 11 points, seven assists and three steals, hitting 3-of-5 from deep. Quentin Coleman, who played through illness in the Texas Tech loss, had 11 points, eight rebounds, six assists and a career-best four steals. Williams started again and added five points and four rebounds, and Zens chipped in six off the bench.

Vaaks, the Providence transfer, scored 14 on 6-of-11 shooting with three assists and no turnovers in 24 minutes.

The Numbers That Mattered

Illinois shot 53.3 percent from the field (40 of 75) and 38.5 percent from 3 (15 of 39). The Illini handed out 23 assists on 40 baskets and committed only six turnovers, a sharp turnaround for a team that coughed it up 19 times against Penn.

The real gap came on the margins. Illinois outscored Sam Houston 50-34 in the paint, 23-6 in transition, 23-11 on second chances and 19-2 off turnovers. The Illini also won the glass 45-35, grabbing 15 offensive rebounds.

Sam Houston actually matched Illinois' bench, 28-27, and its shooting was respectable at 42.5 percent overall and 14 of 33 from deep. That is usually enough to stay close. It was not enough against a team that took care of the ball this well and punished every Bearkat mistake.

There were still things for Brad Underwood to grumble about. Illinois made just 13 of 19 free throws, and Coleman and Brown each picked up four fouls.

Bearkats Leave With Something

Begg was terrific for Sam Houston, posting a double-double with 19 points and 10 assists while going 5-of-5 at the line. McDowell matched Begg with 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting, including 4-of-10 from 3, after scoring 20 in the win over Pepperdine. Oke gave the Bearkats a huge lift with 14 points on 4-of-5 shooting from deep in 21 minutes, and Jacobe Coleman added 11.

St. Bernard was solid inside with six points and eight rebounds, and Dann scored eight on 4-of-7 shooting. The Bearkats managed just two steals all night, which is how a decent shooting night still ends in a 22-point loss.

This was a far better showing than the season opener, when Alabama forced 23 turnovers in a 96-74 Tide win over Sam Houston. This time the Bearkats cut that number to 14 and led a top-five team in the second half. The game opened a four-game road trip for Sam Houston.

What It Means

For Illinois, this was a bounce-back night after the 84-78 loss at No. 16 Texas Tech, where the Illini trailed by 20 at halftime. Six turnovers in the follow-up is the clearest sign of a correction.

It also extended Underwood's personal history against this opponent. Underwood went 8-0 against Sam Houston while coaching Stephen F. Austin, and this was the first meeting between the Bearkats and Illinois. Make it 9-0.

Illinois is still without preseason All-American David Mirkovic, who has yet to play this season, and Jake Davis, who is out with a shoulder injury. That makes the depth on display even more encouraging: nine Illini scored, and the team topped 100 again without its best player. After a 120-45 rout of Fairleigh Dickinson and a 112-70 win over Penn, the home offense is clearly not the issue.

The road is the question, and the next one is a monster. Illinois visits No. 2 Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Tuesday, Nov. 17, at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN. After that, Eastern Illinois comes to Champaign on Nov. 20.

The Take

Sam Houston made Illinois earn this one for 25 minutes, and that was useful. The Illini needed a game where shots had to be made under some pressure, and both Ivisics, Stojakovic and the freshmen all delivered. Six turnovers and 23 assists is a good recipe heading to Durham. Duke will be a different test entirely, but this team looks like it learned something in Lubbock.

Read the full box score (opens in a new tab) and the Illinois Athletics recap (opens in a new tab) for every number.

Sources: Illinois Athletics, CBS Sports. More men's college basketball coverage on Undrafted.

Photo: Illinois Athletics.