Home Sports Basketball Illlinois Downs Nebraska, College Roundup

Illlinois Downs Nebraska, College Roundup

Published on February 27 2014 6:29 am
Last Updated on February 27 2014 10:39 am
Written by Millie Lange

Illini Crush Cornhuskers

(Champaign, IL) -- Kendrick Nunn scored a team-high 13 points as the Fighting Illini defeated Nebraska 60-49 in Champaign. Rayvonte Rice added 10 points and nine rebounds for Illinois, which improved to 16-12 and 5-10 in the Big Ten. The Illini play at Michigan State Saturday.

Belmont Downs SIUE

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – For the first time in nearly two months, SIUE men's basketball was defeated on its home floor. The Cougars fell to Belmont 94-75 Wednesday in Ohio Valley Conference action at Vadalabene Center.

The loss snapped a six-game home winning streak for the Cougars, who fell to 7-8 in OVC play and 11-18 overall. Belmont improved to 22-8 overall and 13-2 in the OVC.

"Belmont is a very good team," SIUE Head Coach Lennox Forrester said. "That's why they're in position to win another OVC regular season title. They're well-coached. They have good players. And they're very fundamentally sound."

The Cougars knocked down 28 of 57 attempts from the field (49.1 percent) but were unable to slow Belmont's offensive attack. For the game, the Bruins connected on 56.5 percent (35-62) of their shots from the field. They shot 60 percent from the floor in the second half.

"I don't think we gave them our best shot, but that's partly because of how they play," Forrester said. "They took us out of our rhythm offensively, and when we made mistakes, they burned us. That's a sign of a really good team."

The Bruins held a 48-32 lead at halftime, but the Cougars began the second half strong. SIUE hit its first four shots in the second period to trim Belmont's lead to 10 at 50-40 with 17:41 left in the game.

Indiana Tech Falls To Davenport

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Indiana Tech men’s basketball season and the Al Grushkin era came to an end on Wednesday night as the Warriors fell to Davenport, 51-72, in the first round of the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference tournament at the DU Student Center.

The Panthers (26-5) scored first as Javonte Ford sank two free throws for a 2-0 lead, but Nick Lewis responded with a jumper to tie the score. Another Lewis basket and a jumper from John Cooksey put Tech up 6-2. A 4-0 run from the Panthers tied the score at six and after another tie at eight, Cooksey put the Warriors ahead again, 10-8. Unfortunately, the home team held Tech without a basket for the next five minutes, going on a 16-0 run to take a 24-10, 14-point lead with 7:03 to play. The Orange and Black were able to close the half on a 9-5 run, entering the half with a 10-point, 29-19, deficit.

The Panthers won in the paint, 18-8 and outscored the Warriors bench 17-4. Davenport also held a slight edge in points off turnovers (6-4) and second-chance points (3-2). Jeff Hoskins, Rontray Chavis, Cooksey and Lewis all scored four points in the first half while Ford and Mike Betcher led the Panthers with eight points. Effingham graduate Jeremy Wohltman played but not not score.

Wednesday, February 26 Scoreboard

NCAA Top-25 Men's Basketball ("USA Today" Rankings)

#3 Arizona Wildcats 87, California Golden Bears 59

#9 Villanova Wildcats 67, Butler Bulldogs 48

#11 Virginia Cavaliers 65, Miami (FL) Hurricanes 40

#16 Michigan Wolverines 77, Purdue Boilermakers 76 (OT)

#17 Iowa State Cyclones 83, West Virginia Mountaineers 66

#21 North Carolina Tar Heels 85, North Carolina State Wolfpack 84 (OT)

#23 Texas Longhorns 74, Baylor Bears 69

Thursday, February 27 Schedule (All Times Central)

NCAA Top-25 Men's Basketball ("USA Today" Rankings)

8:00 p.m. - #4 Louisville Cardinals host Temple Owls