Champaign, Ill. – The North Carolina A&T Aggies men's basketball team fell to the No. 8 Illinois Fighting Illini, 122-60, in the 2020-21 season opener inside the State Farm Center on Wednesday.
  
"I'm just glad we were able to play," said head coach Will Jones. "I saw some good things. We will use this to correct and get ready to play tomorrow." 
 
The Aggies (0-1) scored the first points of the game on a jumper from junior Division I transfer Blake Harris, who finished with a team-high 12 points.
 
But the Aggies struggled after that, shooting 26.7 percent in the first half. At one point, N.C. A&T was 2-for-16 from the field after missing 14 straight shots.  
 
Harris was the only Aggie in double-figures, while Fred Cleveland, Jr., an Chicago, Ill., native, had nine points and Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) preseason player of the year Kameron Langley had eight points and four assists.
 
After leading 8-5 at the first media timeout, the Illini (1-0) rifled off a 24-0 run over the next eight minutes. Illinois out-rebounded the Aggies 35-8 in the first half and made 11 3-pointers to shoot 64.7 percent. Illini freshman Adam Miller had 19 first-half points and finished with an Illinois freshman-record 28 points, shooting 6-for-8 from 3-point range.
 
Star guard Ayo Dosunmu finished with 28 points in the game. 
 
The second half was more of the same from both sides. N.C. A&T shot better at 41.2 percent, but the Illini were too much in the end as they finished the game with 17 3-pointers.
 
Last year's Big 10 Conference Rookie of the Year Kofi Cockburn finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds. The Aggies are set to take on Ohio University 2 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 26 at the State Farm Center.