BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) – Justin Smith matched his career-high with 24 points and Al Durham added 21 on Tuesday, leading the Indiana Hoosiers to a 98-65 rout over Western Illinois.
Indiana has won 21 of its last 22 season openers while improving to 99-21 all-time in the first game.
Western Illinois (0-1) was led by Kobe Webster with 18 points and Zion Young with 12. The Leathernecks have lost all four in this series.
And the Hoosiers made it look easy after seizing control midway through the first half.
When Trayce Jackson-Davis made a 4-footer, the first basket of his career and Durham followed that basket with a layup, the Hoosiers led 16-15. Over the next 3{, minutes, the Hoosiers scored basket after basket, forced turnover after turnover and used the 22-3 run to pull out to a 34-18 cushion.
Western Illinois never recovered as Indiana extended the lead to 46-22 before Kobe Webster closed out the first half by banking in a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from just beyond midcourt at the half.
But the gap only widened as Indiana started the second half on a 9-2 run and it led by as much as 37.
