Kasparas Jakucionis is just fine. More than fine, he’s great actually. And so are the Illini when the star freshman is on the court.

After missing the two previous games with a left forearm injury, Jakucionis was back to his full powers on Tuesday, scoring a game-high 21 points and dishing five assists to lead No. 19-ranked Illinois to a dominant 94-69 win at Indiana.

Jakucionis showed within the first few minutes at Indiana that he was back to full strength — and that the Illini were back to full strength — scoring eight points and dished an assist within the first 150 seconds. And the Illini never let up, building a 30-point lead at one point in the first half against the Hoosiers, the preseason pick in a conference media poll to win the Big Ten.

Despite the lopsided score, the game got testy with six technical fouls called with Oumar Ballo getting ejected late in the game for a Flagrant 2 foul after shoving Tomislav Ivisic. Former Illini forward Luke Goode was called for a technical as was Myles Rice for Indiana, and Illini players Ivisic, Tre White and Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn all received technical fouls as well.

Kylan Boswell scored a game-high 22 points (13 in the second half) for Illinois (13-4, 5-2 Big Ten) to go along with seven rebound and three steals to help hand Indiana its second straight 20+ point loss. Illini center Tomislav Ivisic had 17 points and 11 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the season, and Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn added 12 points off the bench.

Illinois shot 11-for-32 from three, while Indiana didn’t make its first 3-pointer until the 35th minute of the game, finishing 4-for-18 from beyond the arc.

Oumar Ballo led the Hoosiers with 16 points and 15 rebounds, while Goode added 13 points, Myles Rice had 12 points and Trey Galloway had 10 points and five assists.

Jakucionis hit a 3-point on the Illini’s first possession and then had a layup, an assist to Ivisic and another 3-pointer to give Illinois an early 10-6 lead. Illinois then went on a 17-4 run, sparked by 11 second-chance points on five offensive rebounds, to take a 27-12 lead by the second media timeout. And Illinois didn’t let up. The Illini hit six 3-pointers — three by Ivisic — in 2:34 of game time during a 25-8 unto extend their lead to 52-22 with 4:51 left in the first half. After Indiana used a 10-3 lead to cut the deficit to 55-32, Illinois ended the half on a 5-0 run to take a 60-32 halftime lead with Indiana fans booing the Hoosiers off the court.

Indiana started the second half on a 16-4 run, including eight made free throws, to cut the deficit to 64-48, but the Illini responded with a 15-3 run, highlighted by five points each from Boswell and Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn, to all but end Indian’s hopes by taking a 79-51 lead.

Late in the game, Ivisic took exception to Goode’s hard box out, which earned Goode a foul. Ivisic then taunted to Goode to earn a technical fou, and Ballo jump-shoved Ivisic to earn a Flagrant 2 foul and ejection. Gibbs-Lawhorn and Rice also earned a technical foul in the skirmish.

What it means: This team at full strength, particularly with Jakucionis running the show, remains a Big Ten and national contender. The Illini’s spurtability is overwhelming thanks to a high-powered offense and better-than-expected defense, and the Illini have now blown out two Big Ten teams that were considered contenders entering the season (Oregon and Indiana), showing their immense ceiling. While the Northwestern and USC losses show this team has some volatility, these dominant wins show the Illini can overpower NCAA Tournament-caliber teams. Also, Illinois again responded to a loss, and Brad Underwood’s program has yet to suffer back-to-back losses since the end of the 2022-23 season.

Star of the game: Jakucionis dominated the Illini’s first-half blowout with 19 points in the first half on 6-for-10 shooting (3-for-6 three) and four assists. He set the tone from the start, and Indiana had no answer for him. Jakucionis punished the Hoosiers for going under screens and for defending him with smaller players. The only thing that could slow him was second-half foul trouble. Yes, the Illini are far better with a top-10 NBA Draft pick. Shocking.

Stats of the game

• Illinois outrebounded Indiana 51-37.
• Illinois had 19 second-chance points on 16 offensive rebounds.
• Illinois scored 9 points off 11 Indiana turnovers, while Illinois had just six turnovers.
• Illinois outscored Indiana 34-26 in the paint.
• Illinois outscored Indiana 33-12 from three.
• Five technical fouls were called in the game.
• Illinois led for 38:54 of 40 minutes.

Don’t overlook: Former Illinois forward Luke Goode was involved in all five technical fouls during the game. Goode was called for a flagrant foul in the first half for an elbow to the face of Jakucionis. Goode then was the recipient of a shot to the head by Tre White in the second half that was called for a flagrant foul. He then had a hard box out that earned a foul and caught the ire of Ivisic, which started the skirmish that led to Ballo’s jump-shove and ejection.

What’s next: Illinois heads to No. 12 Michigan State for an 11 a.m. Sunday tipoff (CBS). Entering Wednesday’s home game against Penn State, the Spartans (14-2, 5-0 Big Ten) have won nine straight games, the nation’s third-longest active win streak. Jaden Akins leads the Spartans with 14.1 points per game, and eight other MSU players average between 5.9 points and 9.7 points per game. During conference play, redshirt freshman guard Jeremy Fears Jr. is averaging 9.6 points and 7.6 assists, while freshman guard Jace Richardson is averaging 9.6 points. Illinois has won four of five against Michigan State but lost 88-80 in East Lansing last season, blowing an eight-point lead with 7:38 left before MSU closed the game on a 24-8 run.