Illlinois Beats Purdue, EIU Men Win

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Published on January 11 2016 7:19 am
Last Updated on January 11 2016 7:20 am

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) -- Ever since Illinois fell apart in a 25-point loss Thursday at No. 5 Michigan State, Illini practices have been ''hell,'' according to Malcolm Hill.

''Bodies flying and colliding and words that not everybody can hear, from the coaching staff and the players as well,'' the quiet junior forward said.

Leading scorer Kendrick Nunn missed that game for the birth of his son, and the Illini, by their own admission, were embarrassed on the court.

Nunn was back on Sunday, and he and Hill combined for 52 points in an 84-70 win over No. 20 Purdue.

Hill scored 30 and Nunn finished with 22 for Illinois (9-8, 1-3 Big Ten), going a combined 17 for 27 from the field. With both hitting shots, Purdue coach Matt Painter said the Boilermakers (14-3, 2-2) didn't have much of a chance.

''If you can slow one of them down, I thought we would be in pretty good shape,'' Painter said. ''We just got beat tonight.''

Nunn started slowly but scored 18 points in the second half. That included a nine-point run to open the half that turned a 37-all tie into a 46-37 Illinois lead.

Purdue was led by Caleb Swanigan and P.J. Thompson with 12 points each.

Illinois big men Michael Finke and Maverick Morgan helped hold Purdue's two 7-footers, A.J. Hammons and Isaac Haas, to a combined 16 points.

Boilermakers forward Raphael Davis fouled out with 1:49 to play. He didn't score.

Nunn said he hadn't gotten quite as much sleep as he would like since the birth of his son, Kason Lee. The understated junior called it ''a long week.''

It took him a half to shake off the rust. He scored four points in the first 20 minutes, but started the second half with the nine-point run, which included a pair of 3-pointers. The first opened the half and gave the Illini a lead they never relinquished.

Nunn nailed the second 3 even as he was being knocked to the floor by Dakota Mathias. Nunn hit the free throw that followed, too.

''I had complete confidence in him that he was going to explode in the second half,'' Hill said. ''We just feed off each other.''

Nunn appeared to foul out with 3:36 left, only to have the officials review the play and call D.J. Williams for the foul on Vince Edwards instead.

The crowd let out a relieved cheer.

After Morgan sank a short jump shot with 7:24 to play to give Illinois a 65-53 edge, the Illini nursed a double-digit lead until the final buzzer.

Purdue presented what appeared to be a difficult matchup for Illinois, a team with its starting center, Mike Thorne Jr., out indefinitely due to injury and only two legitimate big men available, Finke and Morgan.

Finke and Morgan were assigned the task of dealing with Purdue's 7-foot, 250-pound Hammons and, off the bench, the 7-2, 282-pound Haas - not to mention the 6-9, 250-pound Swanigan.

One fan in the student section seemingly tried to will a strong game out of Morgan, an inconsistent performer in his two-plus seasons at Illinois.

''Way to go, Mav! Good defense, Mav!'' the fan shouted after Morgan shut down Haas on one possession.

But instead of relying solely on the ability of the lean Finke and Morgan to batter the Boilermakers' big men, Illinois sent both to the perimeter and gave them the chance to shoot.

Morgan finished with four points and Finke with six, but all of Finke's points came on big 3s.

''Finke and Mav, I mean, they're probably going to need a cold tub bath,'' Illinois coach John Groce said. ''They were tough, they were physical.''


EIU Men 85, Belmont 59

Belmont used an 18-3 run midway through the first half as the Bruins broke open a tie game to pull away for an 85-59 win over Eastern Illinois.

Trailing early Eastern Illinois closed the final 5:15 of the first half on a 9-2 run to tie the game at 36-36 at the half.  Cornell Johnston  had a 3-pointer while Trae Andersonhit a bucket and converted two free throws.

Craig Bradshaw had the hot hand in the first half for the Bruins knocking down 4-of-8 3-pointers in the first 20 minutes to score 12 of his 14 points in the first half.

Belmont's big second half run came with production from several different players as Evan Bradds scored inside the paint and at the free throw line.  Bradds had 22 points going 12-of-14 from the free throw line.

A.J. Riley led EIU with 20 points.  Anderson added 13.  EIU held a 30-26 points in the paint advantage.

Taylor Barnette added 11 points for Belmont.

EIU fell to 4-12 overall, 1-3 in the OVC.  The Panthers host Eastern Kentucky on Thursday night at 8 p.m. in Lantz Arena with the game televised on CBS Sports Net.   Belmont improved to 11-6 overall, 3-0 in the OVC.

 

Belmont 89, EIU Women 61

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Eastern Illinois women's basketball fell to Belmont 89-61 after a big first half performance from the Bruins built an early 54-23 lead.

With the loss EIU falls to 1-15 on the season and 0-4 in the OVC, Belmont improves to 9-7 and 1-2 in conference play.

EIU had three different players earn double figures but could not come from behind as Belmont held the Panthers in check with six different Bruins scoring in double digits.

The Bruins raced out of the gates against EIU going on a 12-0 run to open the game. The Bruins Sally McCabe scored 10 of Belmont's first 15 points finishing the game with 14 points.

The Panthers did not score their first bucket until the 6:06 mark as Erica Brown made a layup and drew a foul to complete the three-point play the hard way.

Belmont shot 75 percent in the first quarter going 5-of-8 from the three-point line finishing the first quarter leading EIU 30-13.

The second quarter was much of the same as the Bruins continued to catch fire from beyond the arc. Belmont pushed their lead to as high as 31 points late in the second quarter following a layup by Jenny Roy with 50 seconds left in the half. Roy finished the game with 10 points as EIU went into halftime trailing the Bruins 54-23.

The Bruins finished the first half with three players scoring in double figures due in large part to a 10-of-18 performance from three-point range.

Brown was responsible for most of the Panthers' offense throughout the first half as she headed into the third quarter with 11 points to her name. Brown finished the game leading the Panthers with 17 points.

EIU settled down some in the third period going on an 8-3 run to cut the score to 59-31. Belmont's Kylee Smith broke the run with a three-pointer at the 5:25 mark. Smith finished the game leading all scorers with 20 points as Belmont pushed their lead to 62-31.

The Panthers scored the next six points before Belmont answered back finishing the quarter on an 11-2 run to make the score 73-39 headed into the fourth quarter.

Shakita Cox scored six of her 10 points in the third period scoring in double figures for the 11th time this season.

EIU won the fourth quarter battle outscoring Belmont 22-16 but the Bruins lead proved to be insurmountable as Belmont went on to earn the 89-61 victory.