LIVE BLOG: FINAL - Illinois 66, Hawaii 53

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Welcome to State Farm Center where Illinois has returned home for a 7 p.m. tip against Hawaii after being off for eight games following its Arizona road trip.

I'm LOOKING LIVE...at the State Farm Center media room in Champaign, Ill., as we're less than an hour from the opening tip.

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Game 4: Hawaii at Illinois

Date/Time/Place: Monday, Nov. 18, 2019: 7 p.m. CST, State Farm Center in Champaign, Ill.

Capacity: 16,618

Records: Hawaii 3-1; 18-13, 9-7 in Big West Conference in 2018-19. Illinois 2-1; 12-21, 7-13 in Big Ten Conference in 2018-19.

Line: Illinois by 15.5

Series notes: Illinois leads 7-0. The Illini have won all seven of the previous matchups, including two in Champaign. Five of the meetings have been decided by single-digits including a one-point OT win by Illinois in the last meeting in 2012.

TV: ESPNU

Radio (Illinois): Brian Barnhart (PBP), Deon Thomas (analyst) and Steve Kelly (Pre/HT/Post)» The broadcast can be heard live on TuneIn online radio, Sirius/XM 972 and at FightingIllini.com.

NOTE: Illinois will once again only have 10 scholarship players for this game tonight. Tevian Jones is suspended for an academic violation and transfers Austin Hutcherson and Jacob Grandison are ineligible after arriving at Illinois this fall.

Here is some noteworthy information on the Illini's opponent: Hawaii (3-1)

Senior guard Eddie Stansberry has three straight 20-point games, including a career-high 28 points in UH’s win over Portland State on Friday.

Chris Gerlufsen has served as acting head coach through the first four games while head coach Eran Ganot is on temporary medical leave.

Hawaii continues its trend as one of the most diverse teams in the country with players from four different states (California, Colorado, Hawaii, and Texas) in four different time zones (Hawai‘i, Pacific, Mountain, and Central) as well as three foreign countries (Australia, Brazil, and Latvia).

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Here is the league's lineup of games for tonight:

Charleston Southern at No. 3 Michigan State, 6 p.m. CST - BTN

Stetson at No. 10 Ohio State, 7 p.m. CST - BTN

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6:45 p.m. UPDATE - Illinois officials have confirmed #Illini forward Giorgi Bezhanishvili's is here tonight at State Farm Center after flying in from Europe this weekend for her son's birthday.

6:50 p.m. UPDATE - Illinois going with the same starting lineup tonight: Dosunmu, Feliz, Frazier, Giorgi and Kofi tonight vs. Hawaii.

6:55 p.m. UPDATE - The Hawaii coaching staff have all matching Hawaiian shirts and Illinois going with the all orange uniform combination tonight. Hawaii will be in all black.

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FIRST HALF

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15:31 left in 1st: Hawaii 2, Illinois 0 - The Hawaii length and size is bothering Illinois' offensive flow. Cockburn has short-armed some hooks in the lane and Ayo Dosunmu is forcing things on offense. Illini are 0 of 7 from the field with two turnovers.

11:40 left in 1st: Illinois 6, Hawaii 5 - The good news: Giorgi is finding some rhythm with three points and three rebounds tonight. The bad news: Illini already have five turnovers just eight minutes in.

HAWAII TO - 9:07 left in 1st: Illinois 15, Hawaii 9 - Illinois loosening up Hawaii's perimeter defense by hitting 3-point shots from Ayo and Frazier. Hawaii's coach walks out to the lane to ask guards what they're doing.

7:46 left in 1st: Illinois 17, Hawaii 11 - Interesting note: Hawaii, with its length, isn't fronting the post at all against Kofi. Cockburn just made an excellent pass out of a double team. Dosunmu looks to be more confident with his shot tonight.

ILLINI TO - 6:09 left in 1st: Illinois 20, Hawaii 17 - Two times in a row Hawaii just drives the length of the floor without being stopped as Giorgi tries to take a charge. Underwood has seen enough and then Girogi yells out "we gotta stop the ball"...um, we?

2:13 left in 1st: Illinois 26, Hawaii 24 - Hawaii averages forcing 12 turnovers a game...Illini already have eight. Kofi Cockburn is 1 of 7 from the field with two turnovers.

HALFTIME: Illinois 26, Hawaii 26 - Illini fail to score for the final 3:01 of the half and end the first 20 minutes with Ayo dribbling nowhere to set up a Kipper Nichols three. Oof...

Illini have 10 turnovers, eight field goals, only two offensive rebounds and only three bench points in the first 20 minutes of action.

15:00 left: Illinois 33, Hawaii 32 - Illinois is 2 of 9 this half with three turnovers and has outscored Hawaii 7-6 in the first five minutes. This is painful basketball folks. Frazier and Ayo with nine points.

HAWAII TO - 13:00 left: Illinois 42, Hawaii 34 - Kofi Cockburn finding his offensive game with two strong takes to the rim and five quick points. Illini make last five field goals and Hawaii forced to burn a timeout. Hawaii is 2 of 16 from 3-point range.

11:54 left: Illinois 44, Hawaii 36 - Hawaii is shooting 2 of 17 from 3-point range and is still within a single-digit margin. Similarly to the win at Grand Canyon, Illini can't manage a three to four-minute stretch to end this game.

7:59 left: Illinois 52, Hawaii 45 - Trent Frazier has done a really effective job chasing down Hawaii leading scorer Eddie Stansbury tonight. Stansbury is 4 of 12 and 2 of 8 from 3-point range in 32 minutes.

3:50 left: Illinois 60, Hawaii 49 - Illinois much more effective with the basketball in this half with only three turnovers and shooting 13 of 24 from the field.

Final at State Farm Center: #Illini 66, @HawaiiMBB 53 - Illinois moves to 3-1 on the season and will host The Citadel Wednesday night. #Illini freshman center Kofi Cockburn with 15 points and 14 rebounds in 27 minutes.
— Matthew Stevens (@matthewcstevens) November 19, 2019

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