McKendree Cruises to Win, Illinois Beats Marshall, College Roundup

The McKendree University men's basketball team shot 54.3 percent in each half in cruising to a 102-62 victory Saturday night at home against Robert Morris University-Springfield.
 
Six different Bearcats reached double figures in the scoring column as McKendree hit the 100-point mark ....The Bearcats improve to 2-0 overall.

 
Senior guard Justin Blanks scored 16 of his game-high 21 points in the first half to lead the scoring surge for McKendree. Sophomore center Nolan Gerling and freshman guard Jacob Donaldson (Effingham graduate) each contributed 16 points, while junior guard Nate Michael pumped in 14 points. Junior guard Malcolm Mabry finished just shy of a double-double with 10 points and a game-high eight rebounds, and sophomore guard Troy Pedtke dropped in a career-best 10 points for the Bearcats.

Donaldson had two slam dunks and two three-point shots along with three short jump shots for his seven field goals in 10 attempts.
 

Illinois 91, Marshall 74

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — Leron Black scored 17 points and Kipper Nichols had 17 points and 11 rebounds off the bench Sunday to lead Illinois past Marshall 91-74.

The Illini (4-0) opened up 23-point lead, 66-43, with 12 mintues left in the game on a jump shot by Nichols. The Thundering Herd (4-2) never threatened again.

The Illini held Marshall leading scorer Jon Elmore to 14 points. Elmore entered the game averaging 28.3 points. He was 2-of-11 shooting on the night, including 0 of 5 in the second half.

Jarrod West led Marshall with 22 points.

Mark Smith and Michael Finke added 13 each for Illinois.

The Illini used big advantages in bench scoring and rebounding to close out the Herd. The Illini outrebounded Marshall 45-20 and had 42 points off the bench to the Herd's 10.

Easy win aside, first-year Illinois coach Frank Underwood was clearly frustrated by his team's inconsistencies on both ends of the court.

"What am I seeing? What am I seeing?" he yelled to the scorer's table after one possession, following that up with an order to his team as they brought the ball back up the court. "I want to see a good shot down here! I want to see a little toughness!"

Bench points were again a big key for Illinois. For a second straight game, Nichols scored in double figures off the bench (he had 16 Friday in a win over DePaul) and Trent Frazier added 10.

UP NEXT: Illinois will host Augustana, a Division III school from Rock Island, Illinois, on Wednesday at 6 p.m. CT.

TEAM NOTES

• Illinois is 4-0 for the second straight season.
• Brad Underwood won his first four games as Illinois' head coach. Underwood is 113-27 (.807) in his career as a head coach.
• Illinois committed only six turnovers. The Illini outscored Marshall in points off turnovers 32-6.
• Five Illini scored in double figures (17 Black, 17 Nichols, 13 Smith, 13 Finke, 10 Frazier).
• Illinois went on a 17-3 run in the first half over a 6:39 span (13:48-7:09).
• Illinois opened the second half on a 12-4 run in the first 4:08.
• Illinois held Marshall to 74 points after The Herd averaged 92.5 points per game entering today.
• Illinois outrebounded Marshall, 45-39, including 17 offensive rebounds.
• Illinois' bench outscored Marshall's bench, 42-10.
• Illinois is 96-126 (.762) from the free-throw line through the season's first four games.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

• Redshirt sophomore F Kipper Nichols had his first career double-double. He scored a career-high 17 points and grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds.
• Redshirt junior F Leron Black scored in double figures for the third time this season, tying for the team-lead with 17 points. He was one rebound away from the first double-double of the season.
• Freshman G Trent Frazier scored 10 points, the first double-digit scoring game of his career.
• Freshman G Mark Smith scored in double figures for the third straight game. Smith was 1-of-1 shooting from the free-throw line to continue his perfect season from the line (20-20). Smith is the first freshman in the nation to make 20 free throws and shoot 100 percent from the line in his first four games since Trey Freeman (Campbell) went 28-28 in 2011-12.

EIU Men 80, IUPUI 79

Eastern Illinois men’s basketball came down to the wire for the third straight game as the Panthers picked up their first win of the season on Friday night with an 80-79 win over IUPUI.   Terrell Lewis scored a career high 25 points including knocking down a pair of free throws with six seconds left to give EIU the win.
 
EIU improves to 1-2 on the season and will play at San Diego State on Monday night.  IUPUI falls to 1-2 on the year.
 
EIU trailed 41-38 at the half after a big first half by Aaron Bennett who scored 17 of his 25 points for the Jaguars in the opening half.  IUPUI shot 65 percent in the opening half and ended the game shooting 60 percent.
 
Lewis hit a 3-pointer with 17:40 to play in the second half that squared the game at 46-46, the ninth tie of a closely contested game.  Lewis would go 7-of-9 from 3-point range as he moved into fifth place on the EIU career 3-pointers list in the game.
 
IUPUI would answer with a lay-up by Evan Hall as the Jaguars scored 42 of their 79 points in the paint.  Jaylen Minnett followed with a 3-pointer and Ron Patterson added a dunk as IUPUI built a seven point lead, 53-46, with 16:05 to play.
 
The Jaguars would keep the lead until the final 2:30 of the contest.  Lewis then sank a 3-pointer to put the Panthers up 76-75.  After the teams traded baskets by Hall and Ray Crossland, Aaron Brennan gave IUPUI a 79-78 lead with 17 seconds left.
 
Lewis would drive the lane in the final seconds and draw a foul.  He then stepped to the line and sank both shots.
 
Jajuan Starks added 16 points and eight rebounds while D’Angelo Jackson finished with 11 points.  EIU shot 51 percent for the game.
 
Four players scored in double figures for IUPUI.  After Brennan’s 25 points, Patterson added 19, Hall 13 and T.J. Henderson 10.

EIU Women 79, Evansville 52

Five players scored in double-digits Saturday afternoon to power Eastern Illinois women's basketball to their first win this season. The Panthers defeated visiting Evansville 79-52.

The Purple Aces came out hot in the first quarter connecting on eight field goals with two from behind the arc. Brooke Dossett led Evansville with six first quarter points while Hannah Noe and Kerri Gasper each added five. Grace McRae scored seven for the Panthers, but Evansville entered the second quarter with an 18-13 lead.

The Panthers stepped up their defense in the second quarter holding the Purple Aces to only five points. They were held scoreless for five minutes while the Panthers took the lead. EIU capitalized on Evansville's eight turnovers converting them into nine points. EIU ended the game with 13 points off turnovers.

EIU entered the third quarter with a seven point advantage over the Purple Aces. Taylor Steele came off the bench for the Panthers connecting on 3-of-4 field goals and three rebounds. Jennifer Nehls scored seven points for EIU and shot 50 percent from their field in the third quarter. The Panthers bench score 27 points to the Purple Aces'  eight behind Steele's career and season high 10 points. Lana Marov added seven.

Grace Lennox shot a perfect 4-4 from the field in the fourth quarter helping extend the Panthers lead. EIU shot 64.7 percent from the field and 66.7 percent from behind the arc in the fourth quarter leading them to their 79-52 win over Evansville. Dossett finished with a game high 17 points for Evansville while Gasper added 11 points and four rebounds.

Four of the Panthers' starters finished with double-digit points. Lennox finished with a team high 14 points and dished out eight assists. Danielle Berry set career highs in two categories with 12 points and eight rebounds. Nehls added 12 points while McRae finished with 11 points and five rebounds.

EIU scored 40 of their points in the paint and out-rebounded Evansville 47-32, while shooting season highs from the field and behind the arc with 41.8 percent and 31.6 percent, respectively.

The Panthers return to action on Nov. 25 and 26 at the Saint Joseph's Thanksgiving Tournament. Both games are set to start at 1 p.m. CT.

SIU Men 80, Stetson 76

DELAND, Fla. – Behind a double-double of 20 points and 13 rebounds from senior Jalen Henry, SIUE men's basketball earned its first win of the year Saturday downing Stetson 80-76 at the Edmunds Center.

"It's tough to win on the road," SIUE Head Coach Jon Harris said. "Our guys did a great job. They stayed the course. We had some stretches where (Stetson) made some runs. Bottom line is, we found a way to get some stops late and we got the win."

The Cougars improved to 1-2 with the win. Stetson dropped to 2-2.

Despite leading for the majority of the game, SIUE found itself trailing 74-73 with 3:00 left. SIUE used six free throws over those final 3:00 minutes to grind out the win.

"I can't say enough about the mettle our guys showed," Harris added.

Henry turned his third career double-double. It is the second straight year he has collected a double-double against Stetson. It is his second 20-point effort this season and his 13 rebounds are a career high. Henry scored five of SIUE's final seven points.

"He is playing like a senior and that's what we need him to do," Harris said. "It doesn't have to be 20 and 10 every night. The rebounding is something he's in control of every night. He's doing a tremendous job hitting bodies and chasing rebounds."

Junior Daniel Kinchen scored a game-high 23 points on 7-of-13 shooting. He knocked down six of nine three-point attempts. The 23 points are a career high and marks the second consecutive 20-point effort.

"Dan is obviously doing some really good things," Harris said.

The Cougars connected on 45.8 percent of their shots, for a season high. SIUE was 27 of 59 from the field for the game and 16-33 (48.5 percent) in the first half where they led by as many as 12 on two different occasions. For the second time this season, SIUE knocked down 10 three-pointers, finishing 10-22.

"Ball movement was the key," Harris said. "We did some good things on the offensive end, just passing and moving and we did a better job screening. It's a credit to the guys, trusting their teammates and just playing together."

SIUE collected 15 assists compared to just 12 turnovers.

"For this team, with the pace we want to play, 12 is not necessarily bad," Harris said. "If we can stay between 10 and 12 that's a pretty good number for us."

Stetson was led by Divine Myles who scored 18 points. He scored eight at the free throw line. Angel Rivera scored 17 points and was 13-15 at the free throw line.

Stetson was 31-42 from the free throw line as a team. The Cougars were 16-25.

"We really executed our game plan pretty well," Harris said. "We committed some fouls, but outside of the free throws, we did a pretty good job on defense."

SIUE outrebounded Stetson 40-39. The Cougars have outrebounded each of their first three opponents and have grabbed exactly 40 rebounds in each game.

"That has to be who we are," Harris said of the team's rebounding effort. "That is an 'all the time' thing. We have to find a way to be that team every night."

The Cougars were bolstered by a loud group of alumni and supporters who took in the game following a pre-game reception.

"The support was unbelievable," Harris said. "We can't thank them enough. Our guys heard them. That means a lot."

SIUE returns home to face Western Illinois Wednesday at Vadalabene Center. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.