D.J. Richardson matched his career-high with 20 points and Tyler Griffey collected his first career double-double as Illinois coasted to a 66-46 victory over visiting SIU Edwardsville on Monday in the opener of the Cancun Challenge in Champaign, Ill.

Richardson tallied 13 points in the first half as the Fighting Illini (2-0) raced to a 36-23 halftime lead.

After the Cougars (0-1) cut the lead to 44-37 with 13:30 remaining, Illinois put the game away with a 11-0 run over the next 4:45 and were never threatened.

Griffey, who had 10 points and a career-high 14 rebounds, along with 7-foot-1 center Meyers Leonard, helped Illinois dominate defensively.

Leonard grabbed a career-best 11 rebounds and added five blocked shots and eight points as Illinois enjoyed a 48-27 advantage on the boards and limited SIU Edwardsville to 29.8 percent shooting (17-for-57).

Mark Yelovich led the Cougars with 13 points.

Illinois will host Lipscomb on Thursday before heading to Mexico next week for the final two games of the tournament.