CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) -- His nose broken, his vision limited by a cumbersome mask, Lucas Johnson still had his basketball senses about him.

Johnson hit all four of his 3-pointers and Illinois (No. 18 ESPN/USA Today, No. 17 AP), sparked by his play at the end of the first half, ran away from Western Illinois for a 76-53 season-opening win Friday night.

"I was wearing the mask as a precautionary measure. I hate wearing it, it's not comfortable. You can see the straps all over the place," Johnson said. "But the way things were going for me, I might have to stick with it."

The Illini scored the final eight points of a tight and competitive first half and then smothered Western with a 24-4 spurt opening the second.

Illinois, which finished last in the Big Ten last season, trailed 25-22 with 1:30 left in the first half.

But Johnson, who underwent surgery on his nose after taking an elbow from teammate Cleotis Brown in practice, hit a pair of 3-pointers, and Robert Archibald followed with a shot at the buzzer as the Illini pulled ahead 30-25.

Illinois, which shot just 32 percent in the first half, then tightened its defense and got its offense going in the opening minutes of the second.

"The big key was the last 45 seconds of the first half. We turn it over and they score, we turn it over and they score. Johnson just broke out backs," Western coach Jim Kerwin said. "We got a little tired and a little mixed up on defense in the first five minutes of the second half and they took control. That was basically the game."

Marcus Griffin, a junior college transfer who was scoreless at the half, had five points, Frank Williams and Cory Bradford hit 3-pointers, Griffin scored again and Sergio McClain made a steal and behind-the-back layup as the Illini took off. Another Williams 3-pointer followed shortly, and the Illini led 54-29 with just more than 12 minutes to go.

"When you are outmanned athletically, it's hard to sustain it for 40 minutes. They were bigger and quicker," Kerwin said. "We just had a hard time scoring. Their defense was really good, they made adjustments at the half and we couldn't respond."

Juan Martinez scored 21 points and Bill Heisler 17 to lead Western, which has had five straight winning seasons.

Johnson finished with 15 and Bradford 13 for the Illini, which has more depth than any time in coach Lon Kruger's four seasons.

The Illini pushed their shooting percentage to 62 percent in the second half and finished 46 percent for the game, with Johnson shooting 5-of-6 overall. That made the unpleasant experience with his nose worth it.

"The doctors had to push my nose over and then reset it," Johnson said. "I had the mask on at practice a couple of times and that helped me get used to it. I was throwing no-look passes in practice because I couldn't see."