CHAMPAIGN, Ill., Jan. 4 (UPI) -- No. 12 Illinois had little trouble extending its non-conference home winning streak to 26 games Saturday night with an 88-53 victory over Oakland.
Brian Cook scored six of his 22 points as the Fighting Illini (10-1) opened the second half with a 10-0 run to build on their 38-26 halftime lead and put the game away. Cook, who is 16th on Illinois' all-time scoring list with 1,332 points, came within three points of tying a career high.
Cook shot nine of 11 from the field to lead an Illinois attack that shot 61 percent. He also led the Illini with 11 rebounds.
Illinois guard Sean Harrington tied a career high with 20 points on seven of 11 shooting from the field, including a five-of-nine performance from three-point range. Harrington matched a career high with six three-pointers on Monday in a 63-37 win over Coppin State.
Illinois, which opens its Big Ten schedule at Minnesota on Tuesday, welcomed seven non-conference teams to Assembly Hall in its preseason schedule and cruised by an average of 29.4 points in those games. That included a 92-65 victory over then-No. 14 North Carolina on Dec. 3.
Sophomore Rawle Marshall led Oakland (5-6) with 22 points.
Oakland suffered its third consecutive loss and has one more game, against Youngstown State on Tuesday, before opening Mid-Continent Conference play at IUPUI on Jan. 11.
