CARLINVILLE, Ill. – The Illinois College men's basketball team posted a 96-83 victory to give new IC head coach Dylan Dudley his first win with Blueboys in the season opener on Friday inside Daws Gymnasium.

The contest was the season opener for both teams.

IC 96 Blackburn 83
The Blueboys never trailed in the contest and led by as much as 19 in the opening period at 35-16 with 5:01 to play before halftime. The Beavers made a brief run in the late stages of the half before IC took a 44-34 advantage into halftime.

IC bumped the lead back up to as much as 15 in the early stages of the second period. Blackburn would make one final push to get within seven on two occasions before the Blueboys pushed the lead back to double digits and cruised home for the win.

Blue Notes
The victory was the first at IC for head coach Dylan Dudley, who scored 1,026 points during his career with the Blueboys from 2001-05.

Up Next
The Blueboys will open the home portion of the 2026-27 season when they host the annual Bill Merris Invitational. Central and Illinois Tech will open the tournament on Friday at 5:30 p.m., with IC meeting Westminster at 7:30 p.m. Friday's losing teams will meet at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, and the championship game will follow at 3:00 p.m.