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CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- No. 25/24 Illinois hit a pair of big shots late in the second half and did just enough to rally past Cornell on Monday evening at Assembly Hall. The Big Red gave the Illini all it could handle, leading a majority of the game before slipping to 4-5. Illinois improved to 11-1 with the win.

Junior Josh Figini tied his career high with 14 points, all in the first nine minutes of the game, to set the tone. Senior Chris Wroblewski, making a return to his home state, added 10 points, six rebounds, four assists and a steal. Drew Ferry had nine points and Galal Cancer notched five points, four assists and three steals. As a team, Cornell hit 10 3-pointers and commited a season-low 10 turnovers.

Meyers Leonard had game highs of 19 points and 16 rebounds to go along with three blocked shots, while D.J. Richardson had 17 points and Brandon Paul scored 15. Illinois won the battle of the boards 42-25 and limited the Big Red to under 40 percent shooting in the win. Illinois got all 64 points from its starters, with Cournell holding a 16-0 scoring edge from its reserves.

Cornell showed it wouldn't go away by hitting shot after shot, making five of its first seven shots from beyond the arc and getting another three-point play after getting fouled on a shot from beyond the arc. Figini did most of the damage. hitting the first 3-pointer of the game and then scoring 11 consecutive points for the Big Red to erase an early 10-3 deficit to take a 20-14 lead eight minutes in. Cornell extended the first half lead to as many as 10 at 24-14 after a 3-pointer by Max Groebe and a free throw by Cancer.

Illinois got back within one twice, but each time Cornell answered, once on a jumper by Wroblewski and another time with an answer by Gray. Illinois took the lead momentarily at 32-30 before Miller hit a jumper from the corner to send the game into the break tied at 32-32.

The second half started the same way the first did, but this time it was Ferry getting hot. The senior picked off a steal and hit a 3-pointer in transition on the team's first possession, then nailed another after an offensive rebound by Shonn Miller. The lead grew to six on a short jumper by Johnathan Gray with 12:57 left in regulation as Cornell refused to go away. The Big Red answered every Illinois basket, as Eitan Chemerinski and Cancer each got buckets to keep the visitors in the lead.

The final 10 minutes featured five ties and three lead changes, with Illinois getting the final surge. Wroblewski answered an Illinois run with a steal and consecutive 3-pointers with approximately five minutes to play, but the home team had one last surge in them. After Cancer scored on a driving with 2:25 left to give the Big Red a 58-56 advantage, Paul answered with consecutive jumpers to tie the game and then take the lead, the latter with under five seconds left on the shot clock. Ferry missed a 3-pointer on the other end and Figini rimmed out a tip-in attempt, and other end, Richardson put the game out of reach with a 17-footer at the end of the shot clock with less than 20 seconds left. Ferry again rimmed out a trey and the home team rebounded and hit a pair of free throws to go up 64-58 with five seconds to play. A Miller tip-in at the buzzer was the final points for either team.

The Big Red will be back in action when it visits Penn State on Wednesday, Dec. 21, at 7:30 p.m. at the Bryce Jordan Center in State College, Pa. The game will be televised by the Big Ten Network.