Nov. 23 -- CHAMPAIGN -- A moment during the first media timeout of No. 25 Illinois' 87-40 win over Maryland-Eastern Shore on Saturday stood out to Illini coach Brad Underwood.
It stood out to a crowd of 13,456 at State Farm Center, too, as they watched a replay of Pat Bryant's 40-yard touchdown reception that sealed Illinois' football team a 38-31 win over Rutgers as the Illini and Hawks tipped off in Champaign.
"Playing the football team's, I don't want to say miraculous but a really good outcome," Underwood said. "Kind of look up and see that, that was the highlight of the first half for sure."
But Underwood didn't have to look far for positives in Illinois' fourth win of the season, which marked the first double-double for freshman Morez Johnson Jr. and a team-high 19-point outing from Will Riley.
Ten of the 12 players that suited up for Illinois found the scoring column in the Illini's largest margin of victory this season.
"I thought defensively we were pretty good," Underwood said. "I shouldn't make light of the job we did ... we did a good job of just guarding them on a night where we didn't shoot very well."
Johnson's output of 10 points and 13 points was complemented by a six-point, 11-rebound performance from Tre White.
The duo helped Illinois command a 59-38 edge on the glass, including 40 defensive rebounds.
"I feel like for me, I always try to find different ways to impact winning," White said. "Versatile guys like we have, so just trying to get us extra possessions and stuff like that, so we did a good job of that."
Jalen Ware led the Hawks with 10 points, four of which came in the opening minutes of the first half as UMES scrapped its way to tie the game at eight. Illinois responded by closing the first half on a 27-7 run, including nine early points from Kasparas Jakucionis.
Illinois limited UMES to seven field goals in the first 20 minutes of play en route to a 35-15 halftime lead, with just four of the Hawks' points coming inside the paint.
"It's an opportunity for us to continue to grow," Underwood said. "We've talked about it since Alabama, I thought we did a poor job (defending the paint). Now, NBA-level guards at Alabama. Alabama is arguably one of the three or four best teams in the country, probably. So it was a good learning lesson for our guys."
Jakucionis didn't score in the second half, with Riley scoring all of his points in the final 20 minutes to pace a 12-point frame from Kylan Boswell and keep Illinois' offense hot down the stretch.
Boswell finished with 13 points, four rebounds and two assists.
"I can't tell you how excited I am about Kylan," Underwood said. "And what he's doing and the things he's saying ... on a night where you didn't shoot the ball very well, and then I thought we did a much better job offensively kind of moving the ball and playing with pace."
And Riley's 19-point performance marked the fourth time he's scored 14 or more in his five-game college career.
"Will stayed with it," Johnson said. "He was having a hard time in the first half, but he picked it up in the second half. Will is a straight-up scorer, he knows how to get the rim and get his. He's got a great touch and stuff like that, he's a great basketball player."
Illinois will host Little Rock at 8 p.m. Monday at State Farm Center.
"We're going to see a team that mixes up defenses," Underwood said. "They're very, very long. They're very, very athletic, they've got transfers. They're going to play really, really hard ... that's a good basketball team, and we're going to have to play better than we did (against UMES) on the offensive end for sure."