Feliz Helps Illini Past Northwestern

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — Andres Feliz scored 26 points to help Illinois hand Northwestern its 10th straight loss 81-76 on Sunday night at State Farm Center.

Ayo Dosunmu and Giorgi Bezhanishvili added 12 points apiece and Aaron Jordan grabbed 10 rebounds for Illinois (11-18, 7-11 Big Ten).

Illinois was 33 of 38 from the foul line, while Northwestern (12-17, 3-15) was 17 of 22.

Dererk Pardon scored 16 points to lead the Wildcats. Miller Kopp and Ryan Taylor added 13 points each for Northwestern.

All the points scored in the game's final seven minutes came from the foul line.

Trent Frazier hit a 3-pointer 64 seconds in that sparked a 16-2 run and gave Illinois the lead for good. The Wildcats missed 10 of their first 12 field-goal attempts and shot just 30.3 percent (10 of 33), including 1 of 13 from 3-point range, in the first half.

The Illini led 39-27 at the half.

The Illini had gone 4-3 over the past seven games and are 6-6 over the last 12 games after starting Big Ten play 0-5. Illinois hosted Northwestern for just the third time in six seasons, with the last game in State Farm Center being played in 2017.

UP NEXT: Illinois hosts Indiana on Thursday, March 7, to close out the home regular season. Three Illini seniors will be honored in their final home game – Aaron Jordan, Adonis De La Rosa and Drew Cayce.

ILLINOIS POSTGAME NOTES

Team Notes

• Illinois notched its 135th all-time victory against Northwestern with an 81-76 victory Sunday night. The Illini now lead the all-time series, 135-42, and hold a 69-14 edge in Champaign.

• The Illini improved to 7-11 in the Big Ten after starting conference play 0-5 and 1-7. Illinois has won six of it's last 10 games and five of its last eight games.

• Illinois knocked down a season-best 33 free throws on a season-high 38 attempts, an 86.8 percent clip. The Illini knocked down 23-of-25 from the charity stripe (92 percent) in the second half to help put the game away.

*  The 33 made free throws was the most by an Illini team since 2017 and the second-most since 2010 behind only 34 makes vs. Southern on 11/10/1

* The Illini had 16 assists on 21 made baskets for a season-high assist percentage of .762.

* The Illini's 27 fast-break points tied a season-high, with the Illini last totaling that number in the Jan. 26 win against Maryland. Illinois outscored the Wildcats 27-9 in transition.

Individual Notes

* Junior Andres Feliz scored a career-high 26 points, hitting 5-of-9 from the field and 16-of-17 from the free throw line. The 16 made free-throws and 17 FT attempts both were career highs.

* Feliz's 16 made three throws are the most by an Illini in three seasons and the third-most by an Illini since 2010, behind only 17 by Malcolm Hill (2/3/16 at Rutgers) and 17 by Demitri McCamey (1/15/2011 at Wisconsin)

* Feliz also tied a career-high with three steals and added five rebounds and three assists against the Wildcats.

* Freshman Ayo Dosunmu finished with 12 points, marking the 20th time this season he has scored in double-figures.

* Senior Aaron Jordan tied a career-high by hauling in 10 rebounds. It is the third time this season and in his career that Jordan finished in double-digit rebounding totals.

Jacksonville State Spoils SIUE Senior Night

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – Hot-shooting Jacksonville State started quickly and never let up in spoiling Senior Night for the SIUE men's basketball team Saturday at the Vadalabene Center. The Gamecocks built a 30-point halftime advantage and coasted to a 97-72 victory in an Ohio Valley Conference game.

SIUE dropped to 10-20 and closed at 6-12 in the conference, but will return to the Ohio Valley Conference tournament. The Cougars will likely be the eighth seed and play at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday in Evansville, Indiana.

Jacksonville State, sweeping the series from SIUE this season, improved to 23-8 overall and finished 15-3 in the OVC.

"Jacksonville State is a legit team and very physical with some good athletes," SIUE Head Coach Jon Harris said. "They also made a lot of shots and that's a little uncharacteristic of them."

The Gamecocks hit 39 of 71 field-goal tries (54.9 percent) and connected on 14 of 30 from three-point land. Those 14 threes are a season-best total. Jason Burnell's 30 points and 13 rebounds ignited Jacksonville State, which outrebounded SIUE 45-27.

Nevertheless, the Cougars regrouped and made a charge at the Gamecocks in the second half. Harris liked what he saw in their resilient approach.

"We stayed with it, stayed the course and consistently battled them," Harris said. "I told the team afterward that I liked their mindset because they finished the game the right way. We've really grown this season."

Brandon Jackson's 19 points powered the Cougars and he continued his late-season scoring spree. Jackson tallied 79 points in SIUE's last four games.

David McFarland (17 points), Tyresse Williford (12 points), Daniel Kinchen (11 points) and Jaylen McCoy (five points) also made vital contributions. McFarland, Kinchen and McCoy are the three seniors on the squad.

"David has grown so much both on and off the court," Harris said. "And in terms of his confidence, it's through the roof."

Kinchen and McCoy also have made the most of their SIUE careers.

"It as a great experience to play here and I wanted to be an example for my teammates," Kinchen said.

McCoy added, "My teammates helped me in a lot of ways and this year was a way for us to build a lot of character for when we leave here and go into the real world."

Harris pointed out, "I hope that all of these guys will be successful after basketball stops. Basketball is about so many things and something you learn from it is to fight adversity every day."

SIUE hit 23 of 60 shots, and made 10 of 22 treys, equaling their most made three-pointers this season. The Cougars also converted 16 of 21 free throws.

Jacksonville State grabbed its early lead on the strength of strong shooting and rugged rebounding. The Gamecocks' Burnell, a 6-foot, 7-inch senior forward, did ample damage in scoring first-half 21 points and snaring eight rebounds. He made 9 of 11 shots and was 2-for-2 on three-pointers.

The Gamecocks made 21 of 36 first-half shots, including 7 of 15 treys. They also outrebounded the Cougars 25-14. SIUE made only 7 of 30 field-goal attempts and 1 of 6 shots from shots from three-point range.

SIUE led 5-4 early on, but Jacksonville State went on a 14-0 run and never looked back. The Gamecocks led by as much as 20 points midway through the first half and then by 30 at the break. The Cougars got no closer than 23 points in the second half.

EIU Comes Up Short Against Tennessee Tech

CHARLESTON, Ill. – Eastern Illinois men’s basketball had two seniors play their final home game on Saturday afternoon with the Panthers coming up short on senior day against Tennessee Tech.  TTU won 63-57.

EIU fell to 14-17 overall, 7-11 in the OVC.  The Panthers will play as the No. 6 seed in the upcoming OVC Tournament with an 8:30 pm start time on Wednesday.  TTU had its season end at 8-23 overall, 4-14 in the OVC.

On Thursday night Eastern Illinois knocked down 11 3-pointers as they set the EIU team single season record for 3-pointers made.  On Saturday it appeared a lid was over the bucket most of the night on long range shots as they hit a season low four 3-pointers finishing 4-of-22.

In the first half EIU was 1-of-11 from 3-point range with the lone make coming by Mack Smith at the 7:15 mark as he was fouled and converted the four-point play.  The basket cut what had been a nine point Golden Eagles lead down to three points.

The two teams would combine for one basket, a 3-pointer by Jared Sherfield, over the remainder of the first half as TTU led 26-20 at the half.

EIU seemed to regroup to open the second half going on an 8-0 run to take a 28-26 lead with 16:45 to play on a dunk by JaQualis Matlock.

Tennessee Tech battled right back taking the lead and extending the margin to seven points with 11:05 to play on a Corey Tillery lay-up the gave TTU a 39-32 lead.

As baskets proved hard to come by, EIU did build a four point lead with 2:23 left on a free throw by Matlock.

TTU cut that margin to one on the next possession as Hunter Vick sank a 3-pointer to make it 55-54.  Vick led all players with 19 points going 4-of-6 from 3-point range.

After free throws by Josiah Wallace made it a three point game once again, Jr. Clay hit a driving lay-up with 1:32 to play and then hit what proved to be a deciding 3-pointer with 20 seconds left that gave TTU the lead for good.  Vick and Sherfield would close out the game at the free throw line after EIU missed a late shot to try and take the lead.  Clay and Sherfield both finished with 14 points.

Ben Harvey led the Panthers with 15 points off the bench while Wallace finished with 13.   Seniors Lucas Jones and Aboubacar Diallo played their final home games for EIU.  Jones had one rebound and one steal.  Diallo had four points, four rebounds and one block; the 101st of his career.