Indiana Hands Illinois 73-65 Loss

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Published on January 4 2019 6:19 am
Last Updated on January 4 2019 6:20 am

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Freshmen Ayo Dosunmu (20 points) and Giorgi Bezhanishvili (18 points) combined for 38 points in Illinois' 73-65 loss to #21 Indiana Thursday at Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Ind.

The Fighting Illini led by as many as 10 in the first half (25-15), but the Hoosiers made a run to tie the game at 32 at the break.

The Hoosiers then pulled out to a 15 point lead, 55-40, midway through the second half before the Illini stormed back to within four late in the game, 62-58, with 2:29 remaining. That's as close as the Illinois would get.

Romeo Langford led the Hoosiers (12-2, 3-0) with 28 points, while Juwan Morgan had a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds.

Trent Frazier also scored in double figures for Illinois with 11 points and also dished out a game high six assists.

UP NEXT: Illinois (4-10, 0-3) travels to Northwestern (9-5, 0-3) on Sunday for a noon CT tip.


EIU Women 77, UT Martin 71

CHARLESTON, Ill. --  The Eastern Illinois women's basketball team opened conference play at home Thursday night with a 77-71 win over UT Martin. Five players scored in double-figures for the second straight game for the Panthers. Senior guard Grace Lennox finished with a game-leading 26 points and tallied three rebounds, five assists, two steals and two blocks.

EIU improves to 7-5 overall and 1-0 in the OVC while UTM falls to 8-4 overall and 0-1 in the OVC.

The Panthers found early success from the field in the first quarter shooting over 35 percent. Lennox and Carmen Tellez each connected on two three-pointers to carry EIU's offense in the first ten minutes. The Skyhawks closed the first quarter on an 8-0 run led by five points from Brittni Moore off the bench.

To open the second quarter, the Panthers responded with an 11-2 run of their own sparked by a jumper from Karle Pace in the first 20 second. Grace McRae connected in the paint and from the arc to finish the half with seven points. EIU led 33-27 heading into the second half.

EIU led by double-figures for most of the third quarter, but a 12-2 run by UTM in the fourth quarter would bring them within four points with a little over five minutes to play. Taylor Steele connected on two three-pointers later in the quarter to help EIU regain a double-digit lead. Two late threes from Moore and Damiah Griffin would narrow the lead again, but the Panthers secured a 77-71 win over the Skyhawks.

In addition to Lennox's double-figure scoring effort, four other EIU players scored over 10 points in their win. Carmen Tellez finished with 15 points off the bench. Grace McRae finished with her first career double-double of 13 points and a career-high 13 rebounds. Steele also finished with 13 points for the Panthers on 4-of-8 from the arc, while Pace finished with 10 points.

The Panthers will be back in action this Saturday Jan. 5 vs. SIUE for a 1 pm home match-up.