Cornhuskers Beat Illini, 78-67

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) -- On offense Saturday, Andrew White III started slowly. He hit just one shot from the field in the first half and went to the locker room with six points.

But he also had a half dozen rebounds - something to build on. White finished with 21 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Cornhuskers (11-8, 3-3 Big Ten) by Illinois, 78-67.

''I think mainly what got me going was getting on offensive rebounds,'' White said. ''My rebounding on both ends was what sparked my offensive game.

The win was Nebraska's third in four games.

Illinois (10-9, 3-3) has lost four of its last five and continued to miss injured big men Mike Thorne Jr. and Leron Black.

Both are out for the season and, without them, the Illini have struggled on the boards and to create any sort of inside offense. On Saturday, that left the Illini to launch 3-pointers, 37 of them in all, 62 percent of their 59 shots. They made just 11.

Illinois coach John Groce said his team should never have taken that many long-range shots.

''No. Shot selection was awful,'' he said. ''It was terrible.''

Glynn Watson Jr. scored 17 for Nebraska while Tai Webster added 16 and Shavon Shields 14.

Nebraska used a 17-2 run to go up by 10 points late in the first half and never trailed over the game's final 28 minutes.

Malcolm Hill led Illinois with 17 points and seven assists. Kendrick Nunn added 15 points.

With 14:05 left in the game and Illinois trying to claw its way back, White drained a 3-pointer that pushed Nebraska out to a 51-39 lead, matching the Cornhuskers' largest lead of the game to that point.

Nebraska outrebounded the Illini 42-24.

The absence of Thorne and Black has left the Illini short on big bodies, and their disadvantage on the boards has been glaring most of the season. Opponents have outrebounded Illinois 659-569 on the season.

''I felt like we had to win the paint to win the game,'' Nebraska coach Tim Miles said ''Because Thorne's hurt, they don't have a rim protector like (former Illinois center Nnanna) Egwu in the old days.''

Illinois' frustration was obvious Saturday against a Cornhusker team that started no one taller than 6-foot-7.

''I hate to say,'' said 6-10 forward Michael Finke, the tallest player on the Illinois roster. ''That's inexcusable.''

He finished with three rebounds and 11 points, nine of them on 3-pointers.

Illinois had closed the Nebraska lead to eight points on a 3-pointer by Nunn with six minutes to play and breathed life into what had been a mostly grumbling crowd.

But at the other end, Nebraska used a pair of offensive boards to turn a pair of misses into a pair of third-chance points from White that pushed the lead back to 10 at 67-57 and quieted the State Farm Center.

Nebraska went on a 17-2 run late in the first half that turned the game, opening up a double-digit lead in what had been a tight, back-and-forth contest.

A pair of free throws from Webster put the Huskers up 33-23 with 4:05 left in the half.

Illinois' answer at the other was a quick, baseline 3-point attempt by Nunn that missed the basket by at least 3 feet.

''Jack a 3, might as well,'' one fan yelled.

EIU 84, Morehead State 82 (OT)

Casey Teson hit the shot that sent the game to overtime.   Cornell Johnston hit the shot that gave Eastern Illinois the lead in overtime as the Panthers rallied from 11 points down in regulation to beat Morehead State, 84-82, on Saturday afternoon in Lantz Arena.
 
Teson’s 3-pointer came with seven seconds remaining in regulation.  Morehead State missed a shot with 0.4 seconds remaining and Aboubacar Diallo knocked the entry lob pass out of bounds for EIU to finish regulation tied at 73-73.
 
In overtime Johnston drained a 3-pointer with 41 seconds left to give EIU an 80-78 lead.  Demetrius McReynolds iced the game with four free throws as EIU improved to 6-12 overall, 3-3 in the OVC.  Morehead State dropped to 9-8, 3-2 in the OVC.
 
The Eagles shot 57 percent in the first half including 60 percent from 3-point range to build a 46-38 halftime lead.  Xavier Moon had all of his 17 points in the first half for MSU with Corban Collins chipping in with ten.
 
EIU stayed within striking distance with A.J. Riley scoring ten points.  Riley would finish with 22 points including four points in the overtime session.
 
Collins scored five of Morehead State’s first seven points to open the second half as MSU extended its lead to 13 points.  Collins free throws at 18:04 made it 53-40.
 
The Panthers went on a 10-0 run over the next two minutes with 3-pointers by Johnston and Luke Norman.  Collins stopped the EIU run with a 3-pointer at 15:15 as he led all scorers on the day with 28 points.
 
Back-to-back baskets by Riley brought EIU to within two points at the 13:29 but EIU was unable to the lead as the Panthers missed three consecutive 3-point shots that would have put EIU in front.
 
Three offensive rebounds by Treshaad Williams kept MSU possessions alive as the Eagles slowly pushed the lead back to 11 points on a jumper by DeJuan Marrero with 5:11 left to play.
 
EIU closed regulation with a 15-4 run holding MSU without a field goal for the final 5:11 of the game.  Morehead State’s final four points of regulation all came at the free throw line.  During the EIU run Teson had a pair of 3-pointers, the biggest coming with seven seconds remaining.
 
Johnston posted his second straight double-double with 15 points and 10 assists.  McReynolds added 14 points.

SIUE 67, E. Kentucky 65

SIUE men's basketball earned the first Ohio Valley Conference win for Head Coach Jon Harris Saturday, defeating Eastern Kentucky 67-65 at Vadalabene Center.

The win snapped a seven-game losing streak for the Cougars, who improved to 4-14 overall and 1-5 in the OVC. Eastern Kentucky dropped to 11-9 overall and 2-3 in the OVC.

"I'm excited for our group because we stayed the course," SIUE Head Coach Jon Harris said of the first conference win. "They've been right there so many times and we let a lot of close ones slip, so I'm very proud they found a way to win."

The Cougars held Eastern Kentucky scoreless over the final 3:00 of the game and turned a three-point deficit into the two-point win.

"We found a way to get stops," Harris added. "We got loose balls and we got rebounds."

Morehead State 85, EIU Women 77

Both Phylicia Johnson and Halle Stull earned new career highs to lead the Panther offense, but Morehead State earned the 85-77 victory capitalizing on a big third quarter effort from the Eagles. EIU shot 51.9 percent from the three-point line making 14 three-pointers, the most the Panthers have recorded all season.

With the loss EIU drops to 1-17 and 0-6 in the OVC while Morehead State improves to 7-12 on the season and 1-4 in the conference.

It was a very quick start for both teams as Morehead State and EIU looked for their first conference win with both teams trading buckets to open the game. A three-point bucket from Johnson broke the tie and put EIU up 11-8 at the 7:30 mark.

The Eagles regained the lead only one more time in the first quarter following a layup from Shay Steele at the 6:12 mark. Johnson once again answered right back with another three-pointer to give the Panthers back the lead up 15-13 with 5:45 left in the period. Johnson finished the game with 19 points and five rebounds.

The Panthers would not relinquish the lead the rest of the quarter ending the first period up 26-23.