Hill Scores 21 In Illini Win, College Basketball Roundup

John Groce spent the off-week with his team focused on toughness and togetherness. It's already paying off.

Malcolm Hill scored 21 points and hauled down eight rebounds and Illinois held on for a 70-66 win over Iowa on Saturday. The Illini took the lead in the final minutes on a Hill layup and fended off several Iowa chances late to win their second true road game of the season.

"We gave great effort," Groce said. "It took every ounce of that effort to come out of here with a win. They showed great mental and physical toughness. That's what I'm most proud of."

Michael Finke, Jalen Coleman-Lands and Te'Jon Lucas each scored 12 points for the Illini (15-12, 5-9 Big Ten).

Lucas blocked Jordan Bohannon's go-ahead layup attempt in the final two minutes to protect Illinois' 62-61 lead, and then Coleman-Lands knocked down a corner 3-pointer with 1:32 left.

Peter Jok had 16 points and 10 rebounds to lead Iowa (14-13, 6-8). The Hawkeyes have lost three straight.

Iowa had plenty of chances late. The Hawkeyes missed five of their six shots in the final 1:45 and had a nearly seven-minute stretch without a field goal earlier in the second half.

"It usually comes down to a mistake or two," Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said. "We did so many good things, and we did some things that obviously weren't as good, and they capitalized on those."

Tyler Cook had 14 points and Bohannon added 11 for Iowa.

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Illinois returns home on Tuesday to face in-state rival Northwestern (7 pm on BTN). The Illini knocked off the Wildcats earlier this month in Evanston, 68-61.

ILLINOIS POSTGAME NOTES

• The win completed a regular season sweep of Iowa for the Fighting Illini. Illinois beat the Hawkeyes in Champaign, 76-64, on Jan. 25.

• Illinois leads the all-time series vs. Iowa 85-71 and has won three straight over the Hawkeyes.

• Senior Malcolm Hill scored 21 points to bring his career total to an even 1,700, moving past Illini great Eddie Johnson (1,692) and into seventh place on the Illinois career scoring list.

It was Hill's 10th game of 20+ points this season and the 30th of his career. He has scored in double-figures in 21 straight games.

Hill led the Illini in rebounding with eight boards and also added four assists and two steals.

• Freshman guard Te'Jon Lucas scored a career-high 12 points, marking his third straight game in double figures. He scored 11 points in each of the last two games (at NW and vs. PSU).

EIU 82,  Murray State 65

Eastern Illinois won for just the third time in program history in Murray, Kentucky, on Saturday night as EIU beat Murray State, 82-65, at the CFSB Center.

EIU improved to 14-14 on the year, 6-9 in the OVC.  The Panthers will wrap up the 2017 season next Saturday night at SIU Edwardsville.  Murray State fell to 14-14 overall, 8-6 in the OVC.

For the second straight game Eastern Illinois was hot from 3-point range.  On Thursday night at Austin Peay the Panthers tied the school record with 17 made 3-pointers.  On Saturday night at Murray State the Panthers went 15-of-30 from beyond the arc to tie for the third highest single game total in school history.

EIU built a ten point lead late in the first half as they had 3-pointers by Montell Goodwin, Casey Teson and Demetrius McReynolds to lead 39-29 with 3:48 to play.  EIU would lead 45-31 at the half as six different Panthers had 3-pointers in the game.

Aboubacar Diallo came off the bench and provided four big points and several rebounds in the first half.  He finished with nine points going 5-of-7 from the foul line.

EIU was able to keep the lead at double figures most of the second half.  Jonathan Stark had a jumper at the free throw line to cut the EIU lead to seven with 18 minutes to play in the second half.

A put-back by Brion Sanchious with 8:42 to play closed the EIU lead down to ten points at 61-51.  McReynolds hit three straight jumpers and the Panthers were able to put the game away at the line going 11-of-15 at the foul line.

McReynolds was 7-of-11 from 3-point range to finish with 25 points.  Goodwin had 12 points and Terrell Lewis added 11.

Stark had 18 points for Murray State with Terrell Miller leading the Racers with 19 points, 12 rebounds.  Bryce Jones added 11.

Austin Peay 92, SIUE 84

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – A strong second half wasn't enough for SIUE men's basketball to earn its first conference win of the year. The Cougars fell 92-84 on the road at Austin Peay Saturday night.

SIUE dropped to 5-24 overall and 0-15 in Ohio Valley Conference play. Austin Peay improved to 10-18 overall and 6-8 in the OVC.

Austin Peay led by as many as 21 points twice during the second half. The Governors led 54-37 at halftime, but the Cougars refused to relent.

SIUE shot 54.5 percent (11-27) from the field in the second half and outscored APSU 47-38 only to come up short.

"We fought," SIUE Head Coach Jon Harris said. "The reality is it's frustrating because it's kind of been the same song and dance. At some point we have to be able to put a complete game together."

A pair of Jalen Henry foul shots with 7:59 left trimmed the Austin Peay lead to single digits 74-65 for the first time in the second half. It was two free throws by Henry again with 2:13 left which pulled the Cougars as close as they would get at 81-78.

John Murry drained a three-pointer to put APSU back up by six (84-78) and the Cougars never got any closer.

"We had chances to win the game," Harris said. "We had it down to three points and then we broke down and gave up a three. That was the separation they needed at the end."

Austin Peay sealed the win with six free throws in the final 33 seconds to seal the deal.

"It was a tale of two halves for us," Harris reiterated. "We have to find a way to be better for the whole 40 minutes."

Henry led SIUE with 21 points despite fouling out in the final minute. He was 7 for 12 from the field and 6 of 7 at the free throw line.

"Jalen was very efficient," Harris said. "Unfortunately he was hampered with fouls. He nine points in eight minutes in the first half. We just didn't have enough minutes from him tonight."

Devin Thornton matched his career high with 19 points for the second consecutive game. He was 5 for 11 from the field and 7 of 10 at the free throw line.

"He is doing some really good things," Harris said of Thornton. "He is one guy that has been consistent with his effort and his focus. As his career is closing out it is great to see him have some success. He is pushing and he is raising the energy level of the guys on the floor."

Burak Elsik (16 points) and Christian Ellis (11) also scored in double figures for the Cougars.

Austin Peay was led by Murry, who scored 25 points. Kenny Jones added 20 points.

The Cougars have a week before wrapping up the regular season with Eastern Illinois Saturday at Vadalabene Center. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.

"Eastern is a really good team," Harris said. "Offensively they have been really efficient. We're going to have our hands full. We have a week's worth of work ahead."

EIU Women 78, Austin Peay 73

The Eastern Illinois defense held Austin Peay to 0-for-7 shooting in overtime to earn the 78-73 victory Saturday afternoon.

Three Panthers finished the game in double-figures as EIU recorded their third overtime victory of the season. The win improves EIU 9-18 on the year and 5-10 in the OVC while APSU drops to 12015 and 6-8 in the conference.

Grace Lennox led all scorers recording 27 points nearly earning a double-double with nine rebounds and six assists.

The Panthers went into the second half leading the Lady Governors 41-29, but a nearly five minute scoreless drought allowed the Lady Governors to get within four points. A free throw from Lennox finally broke the 8-0 run by APSU as the Panthers went into the fourth quarter leading 53-46.

The two teams traded buckets throughout the fourth quarter as Austin Peay earned their first lead of the game following a jumper from Beth Rates at the 4:55 mark to make it 61-60.

There were five lead changes and five ties throughout the fourth quarter as Lennox's layup tied the game 70-70 with 14 seconds left. APSU could not convert on their final possession as the game headed into overtime.

EIU jumped out in front early in the extra period following a free throw from Lennox and a jumper from Brittin Boyer. The Panthers built their lead to as high as six points following free throws from Lennox to make it 77-71 with 28 seconds left to play. EIU was able to earn 78-73 win holding APSU to only three points, all from the free throw line.

EIU finished the game shooting 48.4 percent from the floor and out-rebounding the Lady Governors 43-36.

Both teams opened Saturday's game trading buckets before the Panthers went on a 7-0 run to take the lead 9-2 at the 6:45 mark. EIU built their lead to as high as 14 points closing out the quarter leading the Lady Governors 21-7. The Panther defense held APSU without a field goal for the final 5:25 of the first quarter.

APSU shot only 16 percent in the first quarter as OVC-leading scorer Tearra Banks was held scoreless in the first period.

The Lady Governors were able to cut EIU's lead down to single-digits in the second quarter thanks to a 7-0 run capped off by a layup from Brianne Alexander to make it 29-20 in favor of the Panthers.

The Panthers answered right back with a 10-2 run coming out of a Coach Black timeout to regain their double-digit lead. EIU kept the Lady Governors at bay throughout the rest of the quarter closing out the first half leading 41-29.

EIU shot 57 percent in the first half compared to 35 percent for Austin Peay. Boyer recorded 10 of her 14 points in the first half tying her career high with eight rebounds. Erica Brown was the third panther in double-figures finishing the game with 10 points despite fouling out early in the fourth quarter.

APSU had four players in double-figures led by Banks who recorded a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds.

The Panthers close out their season next Saturday (Feb. 25) at SIU Edwardsville.