Illinois jumped out to a 49-24 lead at the half and never let the Broncos closer than 15 the rest of the way. The Illini were led by a balanced scoring attack that featured four players scoring in double figures, led by senior center Mike Tisdale with 18 points on 6-12 shooting. With the victory, the Illini improved to 6-1, while WMU fell to 1-3.

The Broncos were led by freshman Matt Stainbrook with a career-high 16 points on an efficient 7-8 shooting, with many of those points coming on a variety of mid range left-handed jump hooks. Also reaching double-figure scoring for the Broncos were Nate Hutcheson, who tied a career-high with 15 points on 5-8 shooting, and Demetrius Ward who chipped in with 13 points and a career-high three treys. The Broncos have had three scorers in double figures in each of their first four games this season.

WMU played the Illini tough through the first media timeout, with Illinois holding an 11-9 advantage over the game's first five minutes. Two big runs put the Illini on top big, starting with a 16-2 run to push the lead to 16 near the midway point of the first half. Illini point guard Demetri McCamey, who leads the nation in assists, handed out 10 assists while helping spread the ball around to Illinois' top scoring threats. The Illini also closed the half on a 10-2 run to take a 25-point lead, their largest of the game. 

The Broncos were able to get as close as 15 a number of times in the second half as they tried to make a run to get back in the contest. Thirteen of Hutcheson's points came in the second half, scoring 8 in a row for the Broncos at one point to cut the deficit to 15. Mike Douglas also scored all nine of his points after the break, while dishing out seven assists. 

Taking care of the ball was key to the Broncos run in the second half, with only four of the Broncos 14 turnovers coming after halftime. The Illini scored 22 points off WMU miscues, while the Broncos were only able to muster four point off 10 Illini turnovers. For the game, the Broncos shot 44 percent on 24-55 shooting, making a season-high seven shots from long range. The Illini shot 52 percent on 33-64 shooting and out-rebounded the Broncos 37-26. 

David Brown contributed four points to the WMU scoring effort in his first action of the season. Dan Loney and Nick Stapert also each saw action for the first time this season for the Brown & Gold. 

The Broncos will look to bounce back on the road when they travel to Baltimore to take on the Towson Tigers out of the Colonial Athletic Association. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. with the game being aired on the Bronco Radio Network.