CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – After falling behind 14-0, Colgate battled back but never fully recovered in a 74-57 loss to No. 16 Illinois on Sunday afternoon inside the State Farm Center.
COACH LANGEL COMMENTS
"Obviously not the start we wanted. It took us way too long to find our footing. When you do that on the road against an opponent the caliber of Illinois, it's going to make for a long afternoon. I was disappointed in our connectivity on both ends of the court. That falls on me. We weren't as ready as we needed to be and that's the responsibility of a coach.
"We responded as I expected our group to in the second half. As they have shown this year, they can be a very together group and execute a game plan. Not to make any excuses, we've had a difficult week with finals and practices. Hopefully the second half will be a chance for us to find our rhythm again and play our best moving forward."
HOW IT HAPPENED
Colgate turned the ball over on four of its first five possessions, allowing Illinois to build its 14-0 lead. Ryan Moffatt made a second-chance trey and finished a layup to end Colgate's long scoring drought and bring the score to 14-5 at the first timeout.
Sam Thomson provided strong minutes coming off the bench, scoring four quick points before Parker Jones added a layup to get Colgate on a run. The Raiders made four of their next five from the field to trim the deficit to 19-8. Thomson's breakaway two-handed slam cut the deficit to 23-16, but back-to-back 3-pointers ballooned the home team's lead to 31-18 late in the half.
Chandler Baker connected on a 3-pointer to cut the margin to 12 points (39-27) with 1:46 left in the half before Illinois scored the final five points to hold a 44-27 lead at intermission.
Illinois extended its lead to as many as 22 points (51-29) in the second half after Quincy Gerrier's 3-pointer capped a quick 5-0 run for the home team with 15:52 to go.
Colgate chipped away led by efforts from Brady Cummins and Jeff Woodward. Cummins scored six points and assisted on a 3-ball from Keegan Records in an 11-0 run that helped the Raiders close within nine (62-53) after Jalen Cox completed a three-point play with 3:35 to go.
Woodward guided the comeback attempt with eight of his season-high 14 points coming in the second half. Unfortunately Illinois made enough big shots down the stretch and secured the game from the free throw line to thwart the comeback bid, 74-57.
Colgate shot 42.6 percent from the field (26-61) and made just three of its 15 attempts (20%) from behind the arc while going 2-for-6 (33.3%) from the free throw line. Illinois shot 41.8 percent from the field (23-55), 34.8 percent from long range (8-23), and 91 percent from the free throw line (20-22).
The two teams were dead even with 30 points apiece in the second half. Illinois, which came in ranked eighth nationally in rebounding, won the battle on the glass 43-25 including 13 offensive boards.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- Colgate finished 42.6 percent from the field to Illinois' 41.8 clip, marking just the third time this year an opponent shot better than the Fighting Illini.
- Illinois was Colgate's first Big Ten opponent since the Raiders faced Wisconsin in the first round of the NCAA tournament in 2022.
- Jeff Woodward's season-high 14 points eclipsed his previous-high eight (Arizona).
UP NEXT
Colgate (6-5) is back on the road Thursday, Dec. 21, to take on Iona at 7 p.m.
