CHAMPAIGN — Andrej Stojaković scored 24 points for his fourth 20-point performance in five games, leading No. 13 Illinois to an 87-73 victory over Texas Rio Grande Valley on Monday night.
Mihailo Petrović had 12 points, and David Mirković and twins Zvonimir and Tomislav Ivišić each added 10 for the Illini (6-1). They are 6-0 at home.
Illinois has started the season scoring 80 or more points in all seven games. The Illini haven’t done that since the 1988-89 season, when the Fighting Illini, who lost in the national semifinals of the NCAA Tournament, opened with 12 consecutive games of 80 or more points.
Kye Dickson scored 21 points and Filip Brankovic had 15 for Texas Rio Grande Valley (2-4), which trailed 42-31 at halftime and cut the Illinois lead to six points twice early in the second half, but didn’t get any closer.
Stojaković scored 14 points in the first half.
Illinois, the top rebounding team in the Big Ten, outrebounded the Vaqueros. 44-32. Keaton Wagler and Ben Humrichous each had eight rebounds, Zvonimir Ivišić had seven, and Stojaković had six.
The Vaqueros went 16-15 last season. It was their first winning season since 2018-19.
Rio Grande Valley is a second-year member of the Southland Conference after spending 11 years in the Western Athletic Conference.
Illinois coach Brad Underwood went 53-1 against Southland Conference teams while winning three regular-season and three conference tournament championships from 2013-2016, when he was at Stephen F. Austin.
The Illini will face No. 5 UConn at Madison Square Garden in New York on Friday.
