Illinois 80, Alabama State 63: Rayvonte Rice collected 22 points and nine rebounds in his debut as the Fighting Illini coasted to a season-opening victory over the visiting Hornets.

Rice, who transferred from Drake, went 9-of-10 from the free-throw line. Joseph Bertrand added 14 points and eight boards and Nnanna Egwu recorded 10 and 10 as Illinois (1-0) dominated the glass 52-28 to help make up for 15 turnovers.

Jamel Waters, with 27 points, was the only player to reach double figures for Alabama State (0-1) which struggled on 34.8 percent shooting.

The Fighting Illini got 11 points from Rice and nine from Bertrand in the first half to cruise into the break with a 40-26 lead. Waters tried to bring the Hornets back by himself, but could not get the deficit under 13 points.

Tracy Abrams’ jumper with 10:09 left stretched the lead to 61-40, and Bertrand’s dunk just over three minutes later pushed it to 67-40 before Illinois began bringing in the reserves.

GAME NOTEBOOK: The Illini won their first 12 games last season. … Highly touted Illinois freshmen Kendrick Nunn and Malcolm Hill combined for nine points. … Waters went 9-for-17 from the field, including 4-for-5 from beyond the arc, as the only Alabama State player to shoot better than 50 percent.