GAME NOTES: A pair of undefeated teams meet in the Las Vegas Invitational championship game on Friday night, as the Baylor Bears tangle with the Illinois Fighting Illini at Orleans Arena.

Both teams come in sporting 5-0 records, and reached this title tilt by winning games both on campus as well as in Sin City. Baylor whipped Memphis on Thursday, 71-47, while Illinois routed Indiana State, 88-62.

With the exception of a 69-65 win at South Carolina in the second game of the season, the Bears have won each game by double figures.

The Illini have posted comfortable wins over each foe to this point, and twice already they've topped the 100-point mark (114-56 vs. Coppin State, 107-66 vs. Austin Peay).

Illinois leads the all-time series with Baylor, 2-0, and this is the first meeting between the two since 1987.

Taurean Prince scored a season-high 20 points and Royce O'Neal added 16 as Baylor overcame a halftime deficit to blow past Memphis on Thanksgiving, winning by 24. The Bears drained 11-of-25 3-point attempts in the game, while limiting the Tigers to 34 percent shooting overall, which included a dismal 4- of-21 effort in the second half. Rico Gathers grabbed 11 rebounds for BU, which finished with a 43-32 edge on the glass. The Bears were guilty of only eight turnovers, while Memphis coughed the ball up 14 times.

Baylor has allowed 247 points in its first five games (49.4 ppg), tying the fewest points it has allowed in any five-game stretch (2010 being the other) since yielding only 230 points from Feb. 4-25, 1950. BU, which is off to a 5-0 start for the sixth time in the last eight seasons, is averaging 69.4 ppg behind typical shooting efforts of .460 overall, .378 from 3-point range, but just .645 from the foul line. Its foes are shooting only 32.5 percent from the floor, which includes a 24.0 percent showing from beyond the arc. The Bears are +12 in rebounding margin. Prince paces the scoring effort with 13.8 ppg, while O'Neal is close to averaging a double-double with his 10.2 points and 8.8 rebounds per game.

Illinois opened Thursday's tussle with Indiana State on a 30-8 run, and never looked back en route to another dominating victory. Rayvonte Rice poured in 21 points to lead the way, while Malcolm Hill added a career-high 17 points to go with eight rebounds, and three others tallied 10 points for the Illini, who made good on 45 percent of their 3-point attempts (9-of-20) while going 23- of-28 at the free-throw line. The Sycamores were held to 36 percent field goal efficiency, and they converted only 16-of-29 foul shots. They were also quite careless with the basketball, turning it over 20 times.

Rice continues to pace the team in the scoring column with his 18.0 ppg, while getting help from Hill and Aaron Cosby with 13.6 and 13.4 ppg, respectively. Four others are close to joining the double-digit hit parade for a club that is lighting up the scoreboard for an eye-popping 95.6 ppg, which comes as a result of its 46.9 percent effort from long distance. Turnovers have also played a key role in UI's fast start as foes are guilty of 17 miscues per outing while the Illini sit at only 9.6 per game.

This should be a wildly-entertaining game between two teams that are hoping to make some serious noise in their respective conferences this season. Expect them to trade blows throughout this contest, and for the Illini to prevail thanks to another outstanding effort from Rice.