No. 19 Illinois saw its undefeated run to start the season come to an end, as UNLV suffocated Illinois on the defensive end and cruised to a 64-48 victory. The Fighting Illini couldn't find any sort of consistency offensively, as they shot just 25.8% from the field as a team.
The Runnin' Rebels were led by the versatile Mike Moser, who scored 17 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for another double-double. Quintrell Thomas came off the bench to chip in 13 points and 7 rebounds. UNLV controlled the paint throughout the game, grabbing 39 rebounds as a team and blocking nine shots.
The only Illinois player who managed to score in double-figures was D.J. Richardson, as the junior guard netted 17 points on 6/17 shooting. Both Meyers Leonard and Brandon Paul added seven points in the loss.
Illinois will look to get back to its winning ways when it hosts Cornell on December 19. UNLV returns home to host Louisiana-Monroe on December 19.
For more on the Illini, be sure to visit Hail To The Orange . Runnin' Rebels information and analysis is available at Mountain West Connection. For other news and notes from around college basketball, visit SB Nation's college basketball news hub.