LIVE BLOG: FINAL No. 2 Baylor 80, No. 5 Illinois 69

Good evening from the home office as No. 5 Illinois (3-0) will take on No. 2 Baylor (2-0) tonight for a 9 p.m. CST tip. 

I’m LOOKING LIVE…at my home office and my flat screen television as we’re about 20 minutes from the opening tip. I did not make the trip to Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis tonight as traveling during this coronavirus pandemic has been made difficult. 

NOTE: Please join us as we live-blog and discuss the Illini game here in our weekly Illini Gameday Open Thread. Dive into the conversation — it’s easy — by simply going to the top right of the redesigned site and click the follow button.

You can log in with Facebook or Google and either way, it’s free. That’s right…IT’S FREE. From there, sound off in the comment section and share your reactions and observations with our staff and fellow members of the Illini Now/Sports Illustrated community as we keep you up to date of the game in real-time.

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Game 3: No. 2 Baylor vs. No. 5 Illinois

Date/Time/Place: Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2020: 9 p.m. CST, Bankers Life Fieldhouse

Capacity: N/A (NO FANS!)

Records: Baylor 2-0; 26-4, 15-3 in the Big 12 Conference in 2019-20 season. Illinois 3-0; 21–10, 13–7 in Big Ten Conference in 2019-20 season.

Line: Baylor by 4.5

Series notes: Illinois has won all three of the all-time matchups against Ohio but the only game after 1987 was on Nov. 28, 2014 in Las Vegas when the Illini won 62-54. 

TV: ESPN; Dan Shulman (Play-By-Play), Dick Vitale (analyst), Holly Rowe (Reporter)

Radio (Illinois): Brian Barnhart (PBP), Deon Thomas (analyst).

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NOTES: Baylor head coach Scott Drew, who was named the 2020 Big 12 Coach of the Year, will coach his first game of the season after missing two games due to testing positive for COVID-19. Associate head coach Jerome Tang served as BU’s acting head coach for its first two wins of the season.

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UNIFORM UPDATE: Illinois is going with the all blue uniforms and Baylor will be in all gold tonight. 

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UPDATE: Illinois going with the same starting lineup as the previous three games: Dosunmu, Frazier, Miller, Williams and Cockburn. 

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MEDIA TIMEOUT – 15:03 left in 1st: No. 5 Illinois 8, No. 2 Baylor 6 – Illinois finding shooting range from the 3-point line early but also being careless with the basketball (three turnovers). Cockburn’s shot blocking presence is a major early problem for Baylor. 

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MEDIA TIMEOUT – 11:11 left in 1st: No. 2 Baylor 14, No. 5 Illinois 10 – Baylor has 12 of its 14 points in the paint and are really using the shot fake to avoid the Illinois centers (Kofi & Giorgi). Both teams allergic to foul shots (0 for 6 combined). 

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MEDIA TIMEOUT – 7:20 left in 1st: No. 5 Illinois 21, No. 2 Baylor 21 – Adam Miller isn’t short on confidence after missing his first four shots. The freshman nails two mid-range jumpers to keep Illini in this game. Illini seem to have solved its early turnover problem. 

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BAYLOR TIMEOUT – 4:02 left in 1st: No. 5 Illinois 25, No. 2 Baylor 23 – Welcome to the Giorgi Bezhanishvili post move clinic. The junior has eight points and has been excellent on the offensive end as Illini try to survive without Kofi. 

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ILLINI TIMEOUT – 0:41 left in 1st: No. 5 Illinois 30, No. 2 Baylor 29 – With 41 seconds left in 1st, Illini are up 1 and…Ayo Dosunmu has been basically terrible so far.

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HALFTIME – No. 2 Baylor 31, No. 5 Illinois 30 – Both teams are out of sync offensively but Illinois forward Giorgi Bezhanishvili with 13 points and three rebounds in just 12 minutes. The defensive job that Illinois has done on Davion Mitchell has been impressive. Ayo Dosunmu just produced his worst half of basketball this season (3 pts, 1 of 6 and one assist) but Illinois is just down one. 

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MEDIA TIMEOUT – 15:15 left: No. 5 Illinois 39, No. 2 Baylor 37 – Kofi picks up his third foul and Dosunmu finding it near impossible to get near the rim off the dribble. However, through defense and Giorgi, Illinois leads. 

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MEDIA TIMEOUT – 11:12 left: No. 2 Baylor 47, No. 5 Illinois 43 – Baylor proving again to basically the Michigan State of the Big 12. Relentless on the glass, beat you with toughness and then they find some offensive runs. 

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ILLINI TIMEOUT – 10:33 left: No. 2 Baylor 49, No. 5 Illinois 46 – Trent Frazier with a key 3-pointer and while Dosunmu has struggled badly, Adam Miller has been bad tonight too and Illini can’t afford for that to be the case. 

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ILLINI TIMEOUT – 8:02 left: No. 2 Baylor 63, No. 5 Illinois 51 – What a terrible 20-second segment for Giorgi. Takes the wrong guy in transition defense, can’t secure a FT rebound, abused by Mitchell in a mismatch on perimeter. Baylor on a 7-0 run over 30 seconds. 

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MEDIA TIMEOUT – 3:50 left: No. 2 Baylor 72, No. 5 Illinois 62 – Illinois on a quick 6-0 run to give themselves a chance at a desperation comeback. Ayo and Kofi have combined for 22 points but have struggled tonight. 

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FINAL: No. 2 Baylor 82, No. 5 Illinois 69 – Baylor shoots 54.5 percent in the second half while Ayo and Kofi struggle in the Illini’s first big game of this 2020-21 season. Adam Miller was a complete non-factor (4 points, 2-for-11 and 0-for-6 3pt).