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ILLINI IN THE PROS

NBA

Ayo Dosunmu, Chicago Bulls

Ayo helped the Bulls bounce back strong Sunday evening, contributing 19 points and 5 assists in Chicago's 124-102 win over Brooklyn. For those with very short memories, this is the Nets team that snatched victory away from the Bulls just 48 hours earlier in that gut-wrenching 112-109 loss.

The Bulls controlled the game from the opening tip, and Ayo's steady production was part of a complete team effort. The Bulls are still treading water at 20-22, currently looking at a 9-seed in the Play-In race, but Ayo's back-to-back performances against Brooklyn—18 in the loss, 19 in the win—remind you why he's become so dependable in Chicago.

TRANSFER ROUNDUP

NCAA

Morez Johnson Jr. is putting up numbers for a Michigan team that inside top 5 AP rankings. The transfer big man is averaging 14.4 points and 7.1 rebounds while shooting 67% from the field (leading the entire Big Ten in field goal percentage). His recent stretch has been particularly strong: 20 rebounds against Oregon on Saturday (the most by any Big Ten player this season), 16 points and 16 boards against Washington, and 18 points in a loss to Wisconsin. Michigan swept their West Coast swing and now sits at #4 in the country, with Johnson providing exactly what they needed: efficient interior scoring and consistent rebounding.

Amani Hansberry is having a breakout year at Virginia Tech, averaging 16.1 points and 9.1 rebounds while becoming the first Hokie ever to record double-doubles in each of his first three ACC starts. His recent stretch shows consistency, but the potential for season averages to drop as the long season wears on: 10 points and 7 rebounds in Saturday’s loss to Duke, 12 points and 9 boards in Wednesday’s win over Virginia, and 8 points with 6 rebounds against North Carolina. The scoring isn’t always explosive, but Hansberry’s controlling the glass night after night and giving Virginia Tech exactly what a transfer big is supposed to deliver in ACC play.

Tre White continues to be one of Kansas’s most steady players, averaging 14.5 points, 7.0 rebounds, and shooting 85.7% from the free-throw line. His last three games show the range: 19 points and 10 rebounds in the win over Iowa State, 6 points and 6 boards against Baylor, and 18 points with 5 rebounds in the loss to West Virginia. He’s playing 33-38 minutes per night for Bill Self, which tells you everything about his role…he’s a reliable perimeter threat who can score, rebound, and hit free throws in late-game situations.

Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn is UNLV’s leading scorer at 16.8 points per game, adding 3.1 rebounds and 3.2 assists. He posted 13 points, 2 rebounds, and 3 assists in the January 10th loss to Colorado State, but had a career night more recently—33 points against Boise State on January 13th. The Rebels haven’t found much consistency this season, but Gibbs-Lawhorn is producing at a high level and carrying a significant offensive load in the Mountain West.

Jayden Epps is averaging 13.8 points for Mississippi State, but the Bulldogs are currently at 2-2 in SEC conference play. He put up 13 points and 2 rebounds in 22 minutes of the 15-point loss to Alabama on January 14th. Epps is getting his minutes and producing decent numbers, but Mississippi State is finding out quickly just how tough the SEC can be.

Carey Booth is averaging 11.5 points and 6.8 rebounds for Colorado State, shooting 84.7% from the free-throw line. He put up just 2 points but grabbed 11 rebounds in only 16 minutes during Friday’s loss to Boise State…an impressive rebounding rate that shows his value to CSU even when the scoring isn’t there. Earlier this month against UNLV he had a more complete outing: 13 points, 6 boards, and 3 assists in 32 minutes of a win. His role fluctuates depending on matchups.

Sencire Harris helped Cincinnati pick up a road win at Iowa State on Friday, chipping in 12 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists in nearly 20 minutes of the 79-70 victory. It’s a bounce-back from the UCF loss earlier in the week, where he managed just 5 points in 26 minutes. Harris is averaging 9.5 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 1.2 steals per game for the Bearcats; solid production, but still finding his rhythm in Cincinnati’s rotation.

THIS DAY IN ILLINI HISTORY

In 1994, Kiwane Garris put on an absolute clinic, dropping 33 points on 11-of-11 shooting from the free throw line in Illinois’s 105-90 offensive explosion over Iowa. The performance remains tied for third in program history for points by a freshman in a single game (trailing only Giorgi Bezhanishvili’s 35 and Deon Thomas’s 34). and showcased Garris’s ability to take over in high-scoring shootouts.

In 2010, Demetri “‘Lashes” McCamey got to the line relentlessly against thirteenth-ranked Purdue, attempting 19 free throws (tied for eighth-most in a single game in program history) in a high-scoring 78-84 loss to the Boilermakers.

In 2025, Will Riley went to work with 17 field goal attempts in nineteenth-ranked Illinois’s heartbreaking road loss at twelfth-ranked Michigan State a ranked battle that came down to a two-point margin in East Lansing (final score 78-80).

Unfortunately, this date has also marked the end of remarkable individual streaks:

In 2008, Shaun Pruitt (remember him!?) made the final start of his 87 consecutive-game start-streak at Purdue in a 67-74 loss. Somewhat unblievably, Pruitt holds the fifth-best start-streak in program history with those 87 games. (Here he is making 2 free throws! In a row!)=
And back in 1954, the nineteenth-ranked Illini fell 70-79 to Iowa, snapping an incredible run 43 consecutive polls being ranked, stretching back to January 9, 1951. [Note: polls were not weekly back in the day, so 43 polls did in fact span the 1951-1954 range]] Three full years of sustained excellence, ended on this date.

Monday Tip-Off - January 19, 2026