(Champaign, IL)  --  Rayvonte  Rice paced  five teammates  in double  figures  with 13 points as  the Illinois Fighting Illini outlasted the Dartmouth Big Green at the State Farm Center, 72-65. 

Joseph  Bertrand, Nnanna  Egwu and Jon Ekey each scored 11 points for Illinois(9-1), which has  won back-to-back  games. Malcolm  Hill chipped  in with  10 points for the hosts. 

For  Dartmouth (3-4), Connor Boehm and Gabas Maldunas mirrored each other with 17  points and nine  rebounds apiece, while Eli Harrison added 14 points on 4-of-7 from 3-point range. 

Illinois  shot  a blistering  57.1 percent  from the floor  in the first half, compared to just 40 percent for Dartmouth, as it carried a 39-27 lead into the halftime locker room. 

The Illini  cooled to 45.5  percent from  the field after intermission, which allowed  the Big  Green to get to  within five in the game's final minute, but Illinois  closed  it out by shooting  5-of-6 from the free-throw line over the final 23 seconds. 

It  was a  relatively mistake-free contest, with Illinois committing just nine turnovers and Dartmouth only 10.