Minnesota Hands Illini 68-59 Loss

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Published on February 6 2017 6:29 am
Last Updated on February 6 2017 7:02 am

Kipper Nichols scored 16 points and Maverick Morgan had 12 points and 11 rebounds in Illinois' 68-59 loss to Minnesota on Saturday.

Minnesota scored the first seven points of the second half to take a 42-35 lead for good.

Nichols led the way for Illinois (13-11, 3-8 Big Ten) with a career-high 16 points. Malcolm Hill added 13 points and four rebounds.

Neither team shot well but Minnesota went 7 of 19 from 3-point range to 4 of 22 for Illinois.

Reggie Lynch scored 15 points to lead Minnesota. Akeem Springs added 14 points and Nate Mason and Amir Coffey had 13 apiece for the Golden Gophers (16-7, 4-6 Big Ten)

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The Illini head to Evanston to face Northwestern on Tuesday (7 pm CT on BTN)

ILLINOIS POSTGAME NOTES

    The 15,544 attendance marks the first sellout at renovated State Farm Center and 257th since the building opened during the 1962-63 season. Illinois' last sellout came on March 4, 2015 against Nebraska.

Malcolm Hill became the fifth player in Illinois history with at least 1,600 points and 600 rebounds, joining Deon Thomas, Brian Cook, Eddie Johnson and Mark Smith.

Kipper Nichols set his career high for points (16), three-pointers made (3) and field goals (6, tied). Nichols had 13 points in the first half, which matched his previous career high for a game (13 vs. Michigan, 1/11/17).

Maverick Morgan registered his third double-double of the season and fourth of his career with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Morgan had double-doubles against BYU (14 points, 10 rebounds) and Missouri (19 points, 11 rebounds) this season.

Malcolm Hill scored in double figures for the 18th straight game (13 points).

Malcolm Hill moved within two points of No. 9 on Illinois' all-time scoring list and within three points of No. 8. Hill has 1,651 career points, just behind Mark Smith's 1,653 (1978-81) and Brandon Paul's 1,654 (2010-13).

 

Tennessee Tech 87, EIU 68

Tennessee Tech opened Saturday afternoon’s game going 6-of-7 from 3-point range as the Golden Eagles ended the night 11-of-20 from beyond the arc during a 87-68 win over Eastern Illinois in Lantz Arena.
 
TTU improved to 10-16 overall, 6-5 in the OVC.  EIU fell to 11-13 overall, 3-8 in the OVC.
 
Aleksa Jugovic and Kajon Mack both opened the first half 2-of-2 from 3-point range as both players reached double figures in the first half giving TTU a 45-30 lead.  The Golden Eagles shot 56 percent in the opening half from the floor and 7-of-10 from 3-point range.
 
EIU attempted to keep pace as Montell Goodwin scored nine points off the bench in the first half.   The Panthers were hurt by two early fouls to Muusa Dama which limited him to just four minutes in the first half.  TTU took advantage of the size missing in the paint to hold an 18-11 first half rebound advantage.  They would finish the game with a 37-26 margin with Mason Ramsey doing most of the work to post a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
 
A jumper by Jugovic with 16:32 to play in the game pushed Tennessee Tech’s lead out to 17 points.  EIU was able to trim that lead down to ten points on two occasions.  The first on free throws by Patrick Muldoon with 12:38 to play that was part of a 6-1 run by the Panthers.  The second time EIU closed to within ten points was with 10:05 left as Terrell Lewis sank a 3-pointer from the wing to make it 60-50.
 
Curtis Phillips and Jugovic answered with baskets and EIU was never able to sustain a run to get back in the game.  Jugovic led all players with 24 points while Phillips had 15.  Mack finished with 17 points.
 
Goodwin led the Panthers with 16 points as four EIU players reached double figures.  Ray Crossland had 15 points, Lewis had 12 and Demetrius McReynolds finished with ten.
 
TTU shot 55 percent for the game.  EIU finished shooting 44 percent from the floor.


EIU Women 54, Tennessee Tech 46

It was a low scoring affair Saturday afternoon as the Eastern Illinois women's basketball team managed to hold off Tennessee Tech in a defensive battle. The 54-46 win marks the first time this season the Panthers have recorded a win scoring 65 points or less as EIU improves to 8-15 on the year and 4-7 in the OVC.

TTU recorded 25 turnovers in the game as the Golden Eagles fell to 9-15 and 6-5 in the conference.

Both Grace Lennox and Erica Brown led the team with 13 points each. Brown recorded six rebounds in the game to put her at 10th on the all-time career rebounds list with 674. She also earned one block in Saturday's game to give her 45 blocks this year tying her for seventh all-time in a single season.

The EIU defense played a huge factor in the win as the Panthers tied their season high of 14 steals as a team for the fourth time this year.

The Panthers took the lead early jumping out to a 4-0 lead thanks to a layup from Lennox at the 7:49 mark. EIU was able to hold Tennessee Tech under 10 points throughout the first quarter as a last second jumper from Danielle Berry closed out the period with EIU in front 12-9. Berry finished the game recording a career high seven points to go along with five rebounds and four steals.

The second quarter was a hard fought period as both teams traded buckets resulting in four ties and four lead changes throughout the period. Halle Stull was a huge factor for EIU in the second quarter scoring all seven of her points in the game during the second period alone. Stull drained a jumper with 53 seconds left to give EIU a 28-25 lead heading into halftime as she finished the game leading the team with six rebounds and five assists.

Tennessee Tech closed out the first half out-rebounding EIU 23-10, but recorded 12 first half turnovers compared to four for the Panthers.

The third period was played at the free throw line as both teams combined for only five buckets in the quarter. The Panthers shot only 21 percent in the third quarter, but TTU could not take advantage recording 10 turnovers in the period. Lennox scored seven of EIU's 11 points in the third quarter going 5-for-6 from the free throw line.

EIU added to their 39-36 lead in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter recording back-to-back buckets to pull ahead by seven. The Golden Eagles pulled to within two points following a layup by Asia Harper at the 5:40 mark to make it 45-43, but EIU rattled off the next six points to earn their largest lead of the game with 38 seconds left to play.

Allison van Dyke scored her only five points of the game during the final quarter as Brown and Van Dyke combined for 12 of EIU's 15 points in the period.

Tennessee Tech finished the game out-rebounding EIU 41-28, but their 25 turnovers led to 24 points for the Panthers. EIU managed to hold the OVC's leading scorer Yaktavia Hickson to only eight points as TTU was led by Harper with 13 points.

EIU will travel to UT Martin next for a mid-week game Wednesday at 6 p.m.