Home Sports Basketball Iowa Holds Off Illinois, 68-60; College Scores

Iowa Holds Off Illinois, 68-60; College Scores

Published on February 26 2015 6:28 am
Last Updated on February 26 2015 6:39 am
Written by Millie Lange

Iowa City, IA (SportsNetwork.com) -- Aaron White pumped in a game-high 29 points as the Iowa Hawkeyes held off the Illinois Fighting Illini for a 68-60 win in a Big Ten Conference matchup at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

White knocked down 8-of-13 shots from the floor for Iowa (18-10, 9-6 Big Ten) as it picked up its third victory in a row. Jarrod Uthoff led all players on the glass with 10 rebounds.

Rayvonte Rice paced the Fighting Illini (17-11, 7-8) with 20 points and nine boards. Ahmad Starks chipped in 19 points on 7-of-15 shooting from the field for Illinois, which has now lost three consecutive outings.

The Hawkeyes took a narrow, 33-32 lead into the intermission after they made good on 44 percent of their field goal tries in the first half. Illinois was outrebounded, 19-15, in the opening 20 minutes of the contest.

White scored 20 of his points and converted 8-of-9 free-throw tries after the break. Iowa limited the visitors to 25 percent efficiency from the floor and led by as many as 12 in the second period. The Fighting Illini assisted only three of their seven makes from the floor after halftime.

Illinois finished 7-of-21 from 3-point range. Iowa outscored the Fighting Illini, 20-15, at the charity stripe.

(1) Kentucky 74, Mississippi 56

Starkville, MS (SportsNetwork.com) -- Trey Lyles scored 18 points and the top-ranked Kentucky Wildcats clinched at least a share of the SEC regular-season title with a 74-56 win over the Mississippi State Bulldogs on Wednesday. Aaron Harrison added 16 points for the Wildcats (28-0, 15-0 SEC), who continued their quest for an undefeated season by outscoring Mississippi State 38-29 in the second half. Devin Booker tallied 14 points and Karl-Anthony Towns contributed 12 points and 10 rebounds for Kentucky, which shot 49.1 percent from the field. The 28-game winning streak is a personal best for Calipari. He won 27 in a row while coaching Memphis during the 2008-09 season. Fred Thomas had 14 points for the Bulldogs (12-16, 5-10), who have lost three in a row. Craig Sword ended with 10 points on 2-of-8 shooting.

(2) Virginia 70, Wake Forest 34

Winston-Salem, NC (SportsNetwork.com) -- After needing a stop on its final defensive possession to edge Wake Forest in their last meeting, No. 2 Virginia dominated from the opening tip in its 70-34 win over the Demon Deacons on Wednesday night. It took over three minutes for the Cavaliers (26-1, 14-1 ACC) to hit their first shot from the floor, but that bucket gave them the lead for good. All 11 Cavs that suited up scored, led by Anthony Gill's 11 points. On Feb. 14, Virginia held on to beat Wake Forest 61-60 when Malcolm Brogdon stole the ball from Cody Miller-McIntyre as time expired. The Demon Deacons (12-16, 4-11) shot just 21.8 percent and went 4-of-22 from 3-point range. Konstantinos Mitoglou paced Wake Forest with 10 points, but eight of those came in the closing minutes with the game out of reach.

(4) Duke 91, Virginia Tech 86

Blacksburg, VA (SportsNetwork.com) -- Jahlil Okafor made his return to the court, and fourth-ranked Duke needed every one of the star freshman's season- best 30 points to pull out a 91-86 overtime victory over upset-minded Virginia Tech. The Blue Devils were able to roll past Clemson on Saturday with Okafor sitting out due to a sprained left ankle, but had a surprisingly much harder time putting away a determined Hokies team that entered this matchup 2-12 in ACC play, even with the national Player of the Year candidate going 13-of-18 from the field and grabbing nine rebounds. Virginia Tech (10-18, 2-13 ACC) was able to force extra time behind a 12-of-22 success rate from 3-point range, with the Blue Devils aiding the cause by hitting just 11 of its 22 free-throw tries. Duke (25-3, 12-3) still managed to earn its eighth straight win on the strength of big performances from Okafor and Quinn Cook, who buried 6-of-11 shots from beyond the arc in a 26-point effort. Jalen Hudson stepped up big for the Hokies, tallying a career-high 23 points. Adam Smith finished with 15 points in the tough loss, with Devin Wilson recording 10 points and 11 assists for Virginia Tech.

(10) Northern Iowa 68, Evansville 57

Cedar Falls, IA (SportsNetwork.com) -- Deon Mitchell dropped 17 points and No. 10 Northern Iowa disposed of Evansville, 68-57, on Wednesday. Potential MVC player of the year Seth Tuttle finished with 10 points and eight rebounds for Northern Iowa (27-2, 16-1 MVC), winners of a school-record 16 straight games following a loss to Evansville to open conference play. Paul Jesperson and Matt Bohannon each hit three 3-pointers for 11 and nine points, respectively. Northern Iowa has a showdown set for Saturday at No. 11 Wichita State with the regular-season title on the line. UNI won the first meeting, 70-54, in Cedar Falls on Jan. 31. D.J. Balentine led Evansville (19-10, 9-8) with 16 points and Egidijus Mockevicius gave 10 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks in the setback.

(11) Wichita State 63, Indiana State 53

Terre Haute, IN (SportsNetwork.com) -- Darius Carter posted 20 points and 11 rebounds as No. 11 Wichita State cruised past Indiana State, 63-53. Fred VanVleet totaled 15 points, five assists and four boards for the Shockers (26-3, 16-1 MWC), who received 12 points and six rebounds from Tekele Cotton and temporarily moved a half-game ahead of Northern Iowa for the top spot in the conference. The outcome of the UNI-Evansville contest has yet to be resolved. Khristian Smith led the way with 20 points and seven boards for the Sycamores (14-15, 10-7). Tre Bennett contributed 10 points in a losing cause.

(19) Baylor 79, (12) Iowa State 70

Ames, IA (SportsNetwork.com) -- A 3-point barrage helped Baylor win its first ever game in Ames and spoil Iowa State's chance to square things up atop the Big 12. Taurean Prince nailed four of Baylor's 14 3-pointers and scored 20 points as the 19th-ranked Bears defeated the 12th-ranked Cyclones 79-70 on Wednesday night. The Bears, who came in second in the Big 12 in 3-point shooting at 37 percent, finished 14-of-26 (53.8 percent) from beyond the arc. Kenny Chery had 15 points, seven assists and six rebounds, while Lester Medford went 4-of-5 from long distance and netted 12 points for Baylor (21-7, 9-6 Big 12), which has won three straight. Jameel McKay posted 21 points and eight rebounds, while Georges Niang added 14 points and six boards for the Cyclones (20-7, 10-5), who had their three-game winning streak snapped. A win for the Cyclones would've tied them with Kansas atop the conference. There's now a three-way tie with West Virginia, Iowa State and Oklahoma for second place instead.

Richmond 67, (22) VCU 63 (2-OT)

Richmond, VA (SportsNetwork.com) -- ShawnDre' Jones scored 22 points and Richmond had VCU's number once again, handing the 22nd-ranked Rams a gut-wrenching 67-63 loss in a double-overtime thriller at the Robins Center. Jones went 6-of-10 from 3-point range and Terry Allen added 16 points with 10 rebounds to help the Spiders complete a season sweep of their bitter rivals, which Deion Taylor sealed with a crucial block of Treveon Graham with 0.1 seconds left in the second OT. Kendall Anthony chipped in 13 points and seven assists for Richmond (16-12, 9-6 A-10). T.J. Cline finished with 11 points, the last two coming on a cutting layup with 1.5 seconds remaining in the first overtime that extended the game. VCU (21-7, 11-4), seeking to avenge a 64-55 home setback to the Spiders on Jan. 31 in which point guard Briante Weber suffered a season-ending knee injury, cut a 16-point second-half deficit down to three in the final minute of regulation. Graham, who put up 23 of his 25 points= in the second half and the two extra sessions, then brought on additional time by burying a deep 3-pointer with 3.5 seconds on the clock. JeQuan Lewis tallied 15 points and eight rebounds in the loss, which dropped the Rams into a four-way tie atop the Atlantic 10.

(23) Butler 73, Marquette 52

Indianapolis, IN (SportsNetwork.com) -- Kellen Dunham scored 22 points and No. 23 Butler pulled away for a 73-52 win over Marquette on Wednesday night. Kameron Woods added 14 points and Roosevelt Jones scored 10 for the Bulldogs (20-8, 10-5 Big East), who outscored the Golden Eagles 36-22 in the second half to beat them for the second time this season. Butler entered play with losses in two of its previous three games -- to No. 6 Villanova two weeks ago and a 17-point loss to Xavier on Saturday, its largest defeat of the season in terms of points. Marquette (11-16, 3-12) was led by 17 points from Luke Fischer and 10 each from Duane Wilson and Matt Carlino, who returned after missing the past four games with a concussion. The Golden Eagles have lost four in a row and 10 of their last 11.

EIU Women Down UT Martin

CHARLESTON, Ill. -- Eastern Illinois pushed Ohio Valley Conference champion UT Martin to the wire but fell just short during a 63-60 loss on Wednesday night in Lantz Arena. The game was the Panthers senior night honoring seniors Sabina Oroszova, Arnisha Thomas and DeAnna Willis.

EIU fell to 10-18 overall, 7-8 in the OVC. The Panthers will play their final regular season game on Saturday with a 2 p.m. start at SIU Edwardsville. UT Martin improved to 19-9 overall, 15-0 in the OVC.

Trailing most of the second half EIU took the lead with 49 seconds remaining as Oroszova broke free on the baseline to score a lay-up. Oroszova’s bucket gave EIU a 60-59 lead as the senior finished with 18 points, ten rebounds and four blocks.

UT Martin answered with 35 seconds left in the game with Katie Schubert sinking her fourth 3-pointer of the game to put the Skyhawks up 62-60. Schubert had 14 points and six rebounds. UT Martin was 5-of-11 from 3-point range for the game.

Oroszova was named the Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Week after leading the Panthers to a pair of wins last week which locked up a spot in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.

Oroszova turned in a pair of dominant performances for the week starting with the road win at Murray State. In that game Oroszova scored 25 points with 15 rebounds, five assists and six blocks. She returned with another solid performance in the home win over Southeast Missouri picking up 22 points with 15 rebounds and six blocks. For the week she averaged 23.5 points, 15 rebounds and six blocks. She was 6-of-9 from 3-point range and 19-of-37 from the floor. Oroszova is currently ranked second on the EIU career list for both blocks and rebounds while ranking 15th on the EIU career scoring list.

Wednesday, February 25 Scoreboard

NCAA Top-25 Men's Basketball ("USA Today" Rankings)

#1 Kentucky Wildcats 74, Mississippi State Bulldogs 56

#3 Virginia Cavaliers 70, Wake Forest Demon Deacons 34

#5 Duke Blue Devils 91, Virginia Tech Hokies 86 (OT)

#10 Northern Iowa Panthers 68, Evansville Aces 57

#11 Wichita State Shockers 63, Indiana State Sycamores 53

#20 Baylor Bears 79, #13 Iowa State Cyclones 70

#23 Butler Bulldogs 73, Marquette Golden Eagles 52

Richmond Spiders 67, #24 VCU Rams 63 (2-OT)

Thursday, February 26 Schedule (All Times Central)

NCAA Top-25 Men's Basketball ("USA Today" Rankings)