CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - A pair of Golden Grizzlies tallied double-digit points but ultimately fell to the Fighting Illini, 66-54, tonight inside the State Farm Center.
 
The Golden Grizzlies (1-2, 0-0 HL) saw seven players find the basket and a pair in the double-digits, as Jayson Woodrich led the team with 11 points, followed by DQ Cole with 10. Allen Mukeba led off the glass for Oakland with his six rebounds.
 
The Fighting Illini (3-0, 0-0 B1G) were led by Tomislav Ivisic who tallied 20 points for Illinois, as a pair of players finished with six rebounds each.
 
Nearly two minutes passed before the ball fell through the hoop on either side as Illinois got on the board first. Woodrich responded though as he drilled the first three of the game to give Oakland a brief 3-2 lead. The Fighting Illini, however, answered as it went on a 7-0 run to take a 9-2 advantage with 16:06 to go in the first.
 
Cooper Craggs put the run to a halt after he hustled for an offensive board and finished off with a made jumper. Both teams locked down on defense as over the next two minutes, only a trio of points were scored off a sole three from Illinois. Jaylen Jones had a strong finish at the rim to end Oakalnd's scoring drought, as Craggs followed suit with a layup as the Golden Grizzlies trailed, 16-9, with 12:16 to go.
 
Illinois built its lead to double-digits for the first time in the game as went on a quick 6-0 run before Buru Naivalurua tallied his first points of the night with a jumper. The Fighting Illini saw its double-digit lead dwindle to single Malcolm Christie sank a pair of free throws, followed by a fast break layup from Cole after Woodrich came up with a steal. Oakland's run continued to grow as Fighting Illini head coach Brad Underwood was called for a technical, as Christie hit his pair of free throws, followed by Cole returning the favor from before and coming up with a steal and feeding Woodrich for a fast-break layup, closing the gap to 22-19 with 7:47 to go.
 
Illinois responded with back-to-back threes before Jones brought the Fighting Illini lead back down to seven. Oakland kept the game close as both sides traded points down the stretch as Mukeba slammed down a dunk with 1:07 left for the final points of the half as Oakland trailed by seven heading into the locker room, 36-29.
 
Woodrich led the Golden Grizzlies with seven points at the break, shooting 3-of-7 from the floor, as seven Golden Grizzlies found the basket. After 20, Oakland shot at a .500 clip from the floor with 12 makes, as Illinois was 14-of-32 (.438) with four makes from range. Off the glass, the Fighting Illini had the advantage with seven more rebounds than the Golden Grizzlies with 18.
 
Cole opened up the frame with a three ball to cut the lead to four, but a drawn foul by the Fighting Illini and two made free throws put the lead back to six. Mukeba and Woodrich gave the Golden Grizzlies its smallest deficit since 17:32 of the first half as they cut the game to 38-36. However, Illinois scored the next 11 points and Oakland went 4:22 without a point to make it a 15-point game with 12:31 remaining.
 
Oakland slowly chipped away at the deficit as Craggs made both from the charity stripe followed by a deep, pull-up three from Christie to cut the deficit to 10. Only one jumper was made by either side in the next 5:09 of game time before Mukeba flew in and finished off a missed three with a slam as Oakland trailed, 57-47, with 4:46 to play. Illinois kept up its pace though as it kept its double-digit lead down the stretch despite Oakland's best efforts as the Golden Grizzlies fell, 66-54.
 
After the full 40, the Golden Grizzlies shot at a .377 clip from the floor (20-of-53) as the team made four shots from deep. For Illinois, it finished with 23 makes from the floor for a .418 clip and tallied seven makes from range. Off the glass, the Fighting Illini had 10 more boards than the Golden Grizzlies.
 
Oakland continues on the road as it'll face No. 1 Kansas Saturday (Nov. 16) at 6:00 p.m. ET, streamed live on ESPN+. All Oakland games this season will be live streamed through audio via The Bet1270 AM (WXYT-AM) & the Audacy App with Neal Ruhl on the call.