Illini Continues Second Half Surge, Beats Nebraska

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Published on February 27 2017 6:21 am
Last Updated on February 27 2017 6:21 am

BY Associated Press

The Illini made 7 of their first 8 shots from beyond the arc in the second half and continued their late-season surge with a 73-57 victory over Nebraska.

The Illini, who came into the game 12th in the Big Ten in 3-point shooting in conference games (32.9 percent), finished 13 of 26 on 3s while winning their third straight road game and fourth in five games overall.

"I don't know if any coach could say you could go 13 for 26 and bet on that," Illinois coach John Groce said. "Even if you have a good-shooting team, that's a pretty high percentage. We were blessed (they) went in. We have good shooters, and a lot of times you don't have all of them clicking at the same time."

Of course, it helped that the Illini (17-12, 7-9) were playing an opponent that entered the game last in the Big Ten in 3-point defense in league games (41.3 percent).

"It's hard to say, (but) how many times can a team have a good night against you?" Nebraska forward Michael Jacobson said. "You've got to start looking at yourselves, looking in the mirror a little bit. I don't think we need a structural change. We've got to figure that out."

Malcolm Hill scored 14 of his 19 points in the second half for Illinois, and he and Tracy Abrams each made four 3-pointers.

"We did a good job of staying composed and shooting it," Hill said. "Someone like Tracy, for example, he was struggling a little in the middle of the year. We told him to stay aggressive and keep shooting, and he made a lot of shots tonight."

Jalen Coleman-Lands' 3 pushed the lead to 47-37 with 13:41 to play, and the Huskers (12-16, 6-10) never got closer.

Groce said his assistants, support staff and players have stuck together through a lot of rough patches earlier in the season. The Illini are playing their best ball at the right time.

"We've continued to find a formula that would give us a chance to win basketball games and compete, and it has here for a couple weeks," Groce said. "It's not automatic. You have to choose mentally and physically to continue to play the way we've played. Hopefully the success here recently will convince them more mentally and physically to continue to play the way we have."
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Illinois returns home to host Michigan State for Senior Night on Wednesday, the final home game of the season (8 pm CT on BTN).


ILLINOIS POSTGAME NOTES

• The win for the Illini was their third in a row and fourth in their last five games.

• Illinois has won three straight road games after starting the season 0-5 in true road games.

• Illinois now leads the all-time series vs. Nebraska 13-6 overall and 4-3 in Lincoln.

 Illini coach John Groce improves to 5-3 against Nebraska.

• Illini senior Malcolm Hill moved into fifth place on the Illinois career scoring list, finishing the night with 1,737 points to move past Corey Bradford (1,735 from 1999-2002). Next up is Brian Cook, who scored 1,748 from 2000-03.

    » Hill scored 19 points against the Huskers, his 23rd straight game scoring in double-figures.

• The Illini continued to play strong defense, holding the Huskers to 37.5-percent shooting from the field, 26.7 percent on 3s and their second-lowest point total. In the previous six games, Illinois opponents shot 39.7 percent overall, 32.5 percent on threes and averaging 64.2 points.

• Illinois hit 13-of-26 from behind the arc in the game, their second-highest total of the season (16 vs. McKendree on 11/15) and most during Big Ten play.

The Illini hit 8-of-13 from downtown in the second half (61.5 percent).

Tracy Abrams (4-of-5) and Malcolm Hill (4-of-6) each hit four three-pointers on the night.

• Illinois' 12 steals against Nebraska were a season high. Malcolm Hill led the way with three, tying his season high.

The Illini scored 21 points off of Nebraska's 18 turnovers.

• Maverick Morgan scored 12 points on 6-of-9 shooting, his 15th double-digit scoring game of the season. He scored 10 of his 12 points in the first half.

• Tracy Abrams busted out of a shooting slump, hitting 4-of-5 from three-point range and finishing with a line of 13 points, 6 assists, 4 rebounds and two steals.