Clark, Melendez lead Illinois in 92-59 rout of Lindenwood

Updated Nov. 25, 2022 10:59 p.m. ET

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CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — Skyy Clark scored a career-high 19 points, RJ Melendez had a career-high 17 and No. 16 Illinois cruised past Lindenwood 92-59 on Friday night.

Lindenwood (3-5) hit three of its first four shots to take a 7-6 lead, but it was short-lived. Illinois (5-1) quickly seized a 22-13 lead, starting the game 10 of 15 from the field and shooting 63.6% in the first half.

Forward Dain Dainja came up with a steal in the lane and flipped the ball upcourt to Sincere Harris, who dumped a behind-the-back pass to Melendez for an emphatic dunk at the 12:45 mark.

Melendez cleared his previous career high of 13 points by the 4:07 mark of the first half. He finished 7 of 11 for the night and added four rebounds.

Forward Keenon Cole led the Lions with 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting.

Freshman Jayden Epps had a pair of layups and Shannon drilled a 3 to cap a 22-4 run late in the half, and Illinois took a 49-25 lead into the break.

Illinois began the second half on a 13-2 run to take a 35-point lead, starting on a vicious, one-handed dunk from Clark. Shannon stole the Lions’ inbound pass and scored an and-one layup three seconds later.

THE TAKEAWAY

Lindenwood: The Lions have no reason to hang their heads after a buy-game loss on short rest following Wednesday’s overtime win over Idaho State. Lindenwood also fared better against the Illini than in 2019, when the Lions were on the receiving end of a 52-point thrashing.

Illinois: Brad Underwood’s group looks sharp after splitting a pair of ranked contests in Las Vegas and dominating a brand new Division I program. No holiday hangover.

UP NEXT

Lindenwood: Hosts East-West University of the United States Collegiate Athletic Association on Wednesday night.

Illinois: Struggling Syracuse visits Tuesday night for an ACC/Big Ten Challenge matchup.

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More AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball, https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25.

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