Illini Hand Purdue Defeat, EIU, SIUE Drop Losses

Illinois needed a bounce-back win after a loss at No. 14 Michigan State, and got it Sunday. The Illini hit on all cylinders from the opening tip, jumping out to an 11-0 lead and never trailing in the game.

Alan Griffin scored 16 points and grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds for his first career double-double. 

Griffin, a 6-foot-5 sophomore, continues to impress despite limited playing time off the bench for Illinois (10-5, 2-2 Big Ten).

Trent Frazier and Kofi Cockburn added 12 points each for the Illini.

Sasha Stefanovic led Purdue (9-6, 2-2) with eight points. Eric Hunter Jr. added seven for the Boilermakers. 

Illinois was 26 of 57 (46%) from the field, while Purdue shot 25% (15 of 60).

Purdue's 37 points were the fewest allowed by Illinois since Jan. 27, 2008, against Northwestern (37). The Boilermakers' shooting percentage was the lowest in program history.

The Illini scored the first 11 points and took a 32-19 lead at halftime. Cockburn scored 10 points in the opening frame, none bigger than a thunderous two-handed dunk at 11:09 that brought the crowd to its feet. Frazier also fired up the crowd with a spectacular underhand layup late in the first half after forcing a turnover at midcourt.

The Boilermakers didn't score until Matt Haarms hit a free-throw at 13:09.

Up Next

Illinois travels to Wisconsin on Wednesday (8 pm CT on BTN) before returning home on Saturday, Jan. 11, to host Rutgers (11 am CT on BTN). 

Team Notes

• Illinois won its 1,800 game in program history, becoming the 18th team to reach 1,800 wins.

• Illinois held Purdue to 25% shooting, the worst ever in the history of Purdue basketball according to Purdue's record book.

• Illinois held Purdue to 20.6% (7-34) shooting in the second half, Purdue's fourth-worst second half shooting in the last 50 years.

• Illinois' 26-point win is the eight-largest Illini win over Purdue in the 190-game series history dating back to 1906.

• Illinois held Purdue under 40 points for the first time since a 34-32 win in Champaign on March 7, 1942, a span of 122 games.

• Illinois snapped a four-game losing streak against Purdue. 

• Illinois outrebounded Purdue, 46-34. The Illini have outrebounded their opponent in 11 of 15 games, and nine times by a double digits. Illinois leads the nation in rebounding margin.

• Illinois' 37 points allowed were its fewest since a 70-37 win over Northwestern 1/27/2008.

• Sunday was Illinois' second game of a stretch of four in 10 days.

Individual Notes

• Sophomore Alan Griffin had his first career double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Griffin is averaging 14.8 points (74) in 20.6 minutes (103) off the bench over the last five games, registering at least 14 in four of those five outings. 

• Sophomore Ayo Dosunmu had six points and seven rebounds. He is averaging 15.3 points (92) and 6.2 rebounds (37) over the last six games.

Belmont 87, EIU 55

NASHVILLE  -- Belmont hit eight of its first ten 3-point attempts on Saturday afternoon and quickly jumped out on Eastern Illinois beating the Panthers 87-55.
EIU fell to 7-7 on the season, 0-2 in the OVC.  Belmont improved to 10-5 overall, 1-1 in the OVC.

Tyler Scanlon, Adam Kunkel and Caleb Hollander all had multiple 3-pointers in the early portion of the first half as Belmont led 33-18 with 8:16 to play in the half.

Josiah Wallace converted a three point play with 53 seconds left in the half to cut the Bruins margin to ten points at 42-32.  Wallace had 11 of his 17 points in the first half as he was the only EIU player in double figures.

Nick Muszynski had 14 first-half points as he led the Bruins in scoring with 25 points while pulling down 16 rebounds.  Scanlon finished with 17 points knocking down 3-of-4 from 3-point range.  Belmont was 13-of-24 on 3-pointers for the game.

Belmont added several key runs in the second half to extend their lead.  Jordan Skipper-Brown halted a 10-1 run with 16:24 remaining in the game as Belmont led 54-35 at the time.

EIU would close the lead to ten points with 12:10 to play on a lay-up by Wallace.  Grayson Murphy ended the Panthers threat with a 3-pointer.  Belmont closed the game with a late 18-0 run that was stopped on a 3-pointer by Dondre Duffus.

Tennessee Stte 79, SIUE 74

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – SIUE and Tennessee State traded blows Saturday before the Tigers prevailed over the Cougars 79-74 in an Ohio Valley Conference battle at the Gentry Center.

SIUE fell to 1-1 in OVC play and 4-10 overall. TSU is 2-0 in the OVC and 10-5 overall.

The Tigers entered the contest as the best shooting team in the OVC, with regards to field goal percentage, and they lived up to their billing, shooting 58 percent (28-48) for the game. TSU was 13-21 (62 percent) in the second half.

"They are a good shooting team and they share the ball," SIUE Head Coach Brian Barone said. "When they hit a few early we got a little suspect in our containment defense. We ran them off the line but then we were starting to over-help and they got some easy layups and some easy drop-offs. When they really needed a bucket they were able to get a bucket."

SIUE led 70-69 after a pair of Tyresse Williford free throws with 2:29 to play when Tennessee State got a traditional three-point play from Mark Freeman. Freeman pulled down an offensive rebound and scored on the put-back before being fouled. His free throw put TSU back in front 72-70. After an SIUE turnover, Jy'lan Washington knocked down a three-pointer to make it a five-point spread. SIUE traded buckets for free throws down the stretch, but TSU held on.

"It's frustrating because you come out of Nashville with a great opportunity to be 2-0," Barone said. "We did enough for a lot of both games to come out 2-0."
SIUE shot 48 percent (13-27) over the first half and the game was tied 39-39 at half.

"My message is not that 'you got a split in Nashville and that's a rarity,'" Barone added. "You have to be hungry and you have to understand when you're successful what allowed you to have that success. We broke a few times. The reality is we're in the gym every day working our tail off to establish a culture the right way but Tennessee State beat us today."

Zeke Moore led all scorers with 22 points. He was 6-11 from the field and connected on 4-7 three-point attempts. Mike Adewunmi chipped in a career-high 21 points. He was 4-6 from the field and 12-13 at the free throw line.

"Right after the celebration at Belmont I told (Mike) the next game was a good game for him," Barone said. "It's about instilling confidence in the young men and the reality is they instill confidence in me as well. We saw something that we could expose and Mike did a good job. Now you have to get where you can do it every game and not just based on matchups."

Saturday marked the first time this season that SIUE has had two 20-point scorers. The last time it happened was February of 2019 also at Tennessee State.
Cam Williams added 11 points on 5-for-9 shooting.

The Cougars 21-47 (45 percent) from the field for the game and knocked down 25-28 (89 percent) of their free throws.

Tennessee State's Michael Littlejohn and Shakem Johnson each scored 15 points to pace the Tigers. Wesley Harris (11), Emmanuel Egbuta (11) and Carlos Marshall (10) also each tallied double figures for TSU.

The Cougars continue OVC play with road games next weekend. SIUE will face Morehead State Thursday and Eastern Kentucky Saturday.