Iowa Hands Illinois 95-71 Loss, College Roundup

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Freshman Ayo Dosunmu scored 13 of his team-high 15 points in the second half, but No. 23 Iowa was on fire from deep to pull away for a 95-71 victory of Illinois Sunday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Iowa freshman Joe Wieskamp matched a career high with 24 points, Isaiah Moss scored a season-high 21 points and Luka Garza added 20 for the Hawkeyes (16-3, 5-3 Big Ten), who shot 68 percent for the game. They hit 12 of their first 14 3-point attempts and 15 overall to blow past the young but talented Fighting Illini (5-13, 1-6).

The Fighting Illini scored 95 points in a rout of Minnesota on Wednesday, only to go seven minutes without scoring a single point in the first half of this one. Such is life for the young Illini, the only team in the Big Ten with underclassmen as their top three scorers.

Sophomore Trent Frazier (12 points), freshman Giorgi Bezhanishvili (11 points) and senior Aaron Jordan (11 points) all scored in double figures for Illinois, who scored 47 second-half points.

Iowa shot 68.4 percent in the first half to jump ahead 39-24. Moss, Jordan Bohannon and Wieskamp then buried consecutive 3s to open the second half, and Moss capped that blistering run with a contested 3 near the Iowa bench to make it a 68-45 game.

Wieskamp and Moss combined to go 10 for 10 on 3s during that stretch.

Iowa nearly broke the school record for 3-point percentage in a game, set 21 years ago at 75 percent against Northwestern, but walk-on Austin Ash missed a 30-footer in garbage time. The Hawkeyes finished 15 of 21 (71.4 percent) beyond the arc.

The Illini forced 15 turnovers, but they also let the Hawkeyes get tons of easy looks on threes.

UP NEXT: Illinois (5-13, 1-6) host Wisconsin in Champaign on Wednesday (8 pm CT on BTN).

EIU 85, Austin Peay 83

CHARLESTON, Ill. – Shareef Smith hit a 15 foot jumper with four seconds left as Eastern Illinois knocked off Ohio Valley Conference co-leader Austin Peay, 85-83, on Saturday afternoon at Lantz Arena.

EIU improved to 11-8 overall, 4-2 in the OVC.  APSU fell to 13-6 overall, 5-1 in the OVC.

Smith’s jumper capped what had been a monumental comeback for the Panthers who trailed by 14 points with just under ten minutes to play in the half.  Smith scored the final ten points of the game for EIU with all 12 of his points coming in the second half.

EIU led 43-37 at the half after connecting for 57 percent from the field and 7-of-10 from 3-point range in the first half.  Josiah Wallace scored 16 of his game high 27 points in the opening half.  The Governors were able to keep within striking distance as they knocked down six 3-pointers with a pair coming from Isaiah Hart.

EIU pushed their lead to nine points to open the second half on a 3-pointer by Wallace.  Austin Peay would answer with a small run to trim the lead to two points on a dunk by Jabari McGhee with 16:56 to play in the game.

The Governors were not done there as they rattled off a 14-0 run to take a 62-55 lead with 13:21 to play on a 3-pointer by Terry Taylor.  The lead would eventually grow to 70-56 as APSU had an extended 22-1 run in which they hit 9-of-10 shots for the floor.

Mack Smith would stop the bleeding for the Panthers with a three-point play at the 9:24 mark.  Smith’s 3-pointer with 6:20 to play cut the Governors margin to three and Kashawn Charles capped an EIU 14-2 run with a 3-pointer with 5:57 to play that knotted the game at 72-72.

The two teams would trade the lead five times and have five ties in the final five minutes of the game setting the stage for the Shareef Smith game winner.

Mack Smith was the third Panther in double figures in the game as he had 18 points.  EIU shot 55 percent from the floor and 10-of-16 (63 percent) from 3-point range.  The Panthers also won the battle on the glass with a 39-24 margin.  Cam Burrell pulled down eight rebounds while JaQualis Matlock added seven.

Chris Porter-Bunton had 24 points to lead APSU going 3-of-3 from 3-point range.  Taylor added 16 points while McGhee had 16 points and eight rebounds.  APSU finished the night 13-of-23 from 3-point range.
 

Austin Peay 73, EIU Women 60

CHARLESTON, Ill. --  Eastern Illinois women's basketball gave up 24 fourth quarter points falling to Austin Peay 73-60 Saturday afternoon. The Panthers fall to 8-9 overall and 2-4 in the OVC. The Governors improve to 8-9 overall and 3-3 in the OVC.

The Panthers and Governors made for a competitive first half in Lantz Arena Saturday afternoon. The first 20 minutes of play saw seven lead changes and four ties. EIU finished the half shooting 45.5 percent from the field and were 4-of-8 from the arc. APSU shot 40.6 percent from the field but struggled from the arc only making 3 of their 11 attempts.

EIU struggled with APSU's pressure defense in the second quarter leading to five turnovers. Brandi Ferby had back-to-back steals and layups midway through the second helping the Governors to a 6-0 run. EIU trailed by as much as three points but Abby Wahl would close the half with three points to bring EIU within one.

The Governors pulled away early in the fourth quarter going on a 22-5 run over EIU. Keisha Gregory knocked down a three-pointer with 8:32 on the clock to spark APSU's run. Gregory would finish the fourth with nine points to lead the Governors to a 73-60 win over the Panthers.

Taylor Steele and Abby Wahl both flirted with double-doubles. Steele finished with a team-high 17 points and a career-high eight rebounds. Wahl added 11 points and eight boards. Grace Lennox would finish with 12 points, three rebounds, and three assists.

Brandi Ferby finished with 19 points and seven steals for APSU, while Maggie Knowles added 16 points and seven boards. Gregory scored 13 points and tallied seven assists, while Arielle Gonzalez-Varner completed a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds.

EIU will be back in action next Thursday Jan. 24 as the wrap up this season's series at UT Martin. Tip-off is set for 5:30 pm.

Murray State 87, SIUE 72

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – Tyresse Williford of the SIUE men's basketball team had a memorable game Saturday night, but the Cougars couldn't quite knock off high-flying Murray State at the Vadalabene Center.

Williford, a 5-foot-10, inch junior guard, scored a career-high 33 points in the Cougars' 82-72 loss to the Racers in front of 2,178 fans. Ja Morant's career-best 40 points paced surging Murray State, which improved to 15-2 and 6-0 in the Ohio Valley Conference. The Racers have won six in succession. SIUE, falling to 5-3 and 1-5, sustained its fifth consecutive loss.

"Our guys battled and that's not a surprise," SIUE Head Coach Jon Harris said. "They are a very competitive group. We just need to be a little bit better to get over the hump."

Williford tried to push them in that direction. He made 10 of 17 shots, including 2 of 6 treys. Williford also converted all 11 of his free throw attempts as the Cougars went 16-for-16 from the foul line. It's the first time they did that since they made all 11 free throws against UMKC on Dec. 28, 2008.

"The points are fun," said Williford, "but the statistics aren't that important if you don't get the win. And we didn't come away with it."

SIUE made Murray State earn everything it got, Racers' Head Coach Matt McMahon said.

"It was a hard-fought, tough road game and SIUE played hard," he said. "They have good balance and their record is deceiving. Williford had a terrific performance and we couldn't guard him."

The Cougars said some of the same things about Morant, a 6-3 soph and projected top NBA selection. Morant, whose previous best was 38 points against Alabama, made all 21 of his free throws to boost his scoring. He was 8 of 17 from the field, 3 of 9 on 3-pointers, collected 11 assists and added five steals.

"It was another historic night for a special player," McMahon said of Morant.

Morant added, "I wasn't looking to settle for shots. I don't know if it's my best game, but it's near the top somewhere."

Harris pointed out: "He (Morant) has a really good pace and he takes what's there. He plays the whole game and plays the entire game with the ball in his hands."

Harris said Williford does some of the same things for the Cougars.

"He's the engine for us. When he's good, we are good and he's starting to understand that," Harris said.

Willford noted, "My job is to control the tempo and bring energy to the team."

Brandon Jackson scored 13 points and grabbed six rebounds to complement Williford's outing that included four assists and four rebounds. The Cougars made 26 of 63 shots, were 4 of 19 on 3-pointers and snagged 31 rebounds, three more than the Racers.

The Cougars, trailing 40-38 at half, got to within a point at 69-68 with 4:04 remaining, but the Racers fended them off in front of a lively crowd.

"I want to give a shout-out to the fans because the kept the atmosphere going," Williford said. His 19 first-half points ignited the Cougars, who once led 23-14.

Harris said, "I think the two games this week (including a narrow 79-71 loss to Austin Peay on Thursday) shows that we can be right there with teams in this league. We showed we can play with people."

SIUE travels to Southeast Missouri (Jan. 24) and UT Martin (Jan. 26) before returning home to play Morehead State (Jan. 31) and Eastern Kentucky (Feb. 2).