CHAMPAIGN — Terrance Shannon Jr. scored 29 points, Marcus Domask had 22 and Coleman Hawkins added 20 to lead No. 13 Illinois to a 105-97 victory over Minnesota on Wednesday night.
Dain Dainja had 11 points and six rebounds for the Illini (21-7, 12-5 Big Ten), who scored more than 85 points for the 10th time in 12 games.
Dawson Garcia scored 29 points and Cam Christie had 23 for Minnesota (17-11, 8-9). Mike Mitchell Jr. added 17 points, Pharrel Payne had 15 and nine rebounds and Elijah Hawkins had 12 assists.
Minnesota led 63-62 with 14:15 left, but a jumper by Shannon put Illinois ahead for good.
Illinois shot 61.3% from the field and Minnesota shot 60%, including 14 of 20 on 3-pointers.
The win was Illinois’ eighth straight over Minnesota and kept the Illini in second place in the Big Ten, two games behind No. 2 Purdue (14-3) with three conference games remaining for both teams.
Illinois improved to 15-2 at home with one game remaining at the State Farm Center.
BIG PICTURE
Minnesota: Despite the loss, it has been a remarkable turnaround season for the Gophers. They were 7-18 at this point of the season last year. The 10-win improvement is the best in the Big Ten and one of the best nationally.
Illinois: The Illini went off script and dug deep into their bench Sunday in a 95-85 win over Iowa. Ten players logged 10-plus minutes and all 10 scored at least two points. Ten players saw action against Minnesota, eight scored, and the Illini bench outscored Minnesota’s reserves 18-3..
UP NEXT
Minnesota: Home vs. Penn State on Saturday.
Illinois: At Wisconsin on Saturday.