Champaign, Ill. – Junior guard Tyler Maye scored a team-high 12 points in his return to action, but the North Carolina A&T Aggies fell to Illinois, 95-64 in non-conference men's basketball action at the State Farm Center Sunday afternoon.
 
"I thought the guys fought extremely hard," began acting head coach Will Jones. "I really liked their amount of effort and energy."
 
N.C. A&T (3-11) has one non-conference game remaining before exclusively playing Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) competition the rest of the way. 
 
Maye, who missed the last six games with an injury, also had help from Devin Haygood who scored 12 points including an impressive dunk in the second half. Freshman Harry Morrice scored nine points on 3-for-3 shooting from 3-point range to go with a team-high five rebounds. Junior guard Kameron Langley added eight points and seven assists.
 
The Aggies scored the first two points of the game on a high-flying slam from Ronald Jackson. Illinois responded with a 16-6 run over the next eight minutes to take a 16-8 lead. N.C. A&T went on a spurt themselves aided by two 3-pointers from Morrice to cut the deficit to three, 22-19, with 9:37 remaining in the first half. 
 
The Fighting Illini (9-4) outscored the Aggies 19-4 over the next five minutes and to take a 50-34 lead into the locker room.
 
In the second half, the Aggies struggled to score the basketball going scoreless over a four-minute stretch starting at the 15:48 mark. It allowed Illinois to push their lead to 25. Illinois seven-foot center Kofi Cockburn finished with 26 points and nine rebounds on 11-for-16 shooting. Ayo Dosunmu added 19 points. 
 
Turnovers proved to be the difference in the game as the Aggies had 18 allowing Illinois to create a 28-4 advantage in points off turnovers. The Fighting Illini also had 48 points in the paint compared to N.C. A&T's 30. 
 
The Aggies will play their final non-conference game against Mid-Atlantic Christian on Jan. 3 at 2 p.m.