College Basketball Weekend Roundup Feb. 16-17

EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) - D.J. Richardson tallied 18 points and eight rebounds as the Illinois Fighting Illini coasted to a 62-41 victory over the Northwestern Wildcats in a Big Ten Conference matchup at Welsh-Ryan Arena.

Tracy Abrams added 13 points for Illinois (19-8, 6-7 Big Ten) as it collected its fourth win in a row. Brandon Paul contributed eight points, six rebounds and five assists for the Fighting Illini.

Reggie Hearn led Nothwestern (13-13, 4-9) with 11 points on 3-of-11 shooting from the floor while Mike Turner paced the team on the glass with seven boards.

The Fighting Illini opened up the game on a 7-0 run and held the hosts to 21.7 percent shooting from the field in the first half to take a 29-15 lead into the intermission. Abrams scored 11 of his points before the break.

Northwestern was unable to cut into the deficit after halftime as it managed to make only 28 percent of its field goal tries over the final 20 minutes. Illinois outscored the hosts, 18-8, in the paint in the second stanza to complete the rout.

Illinois overcame an 8-of-15 showing at the charity stripe by pulling down 39 rebounds to the  Wildcats' 33. Northwestern went 12-of-48 from the floor to set a new season-low for made field goals in a contest.

Austin Peay 83, SIUE Men 71

SIUE men's basketball scored a season-high 47 second-half points Saturday night, but it proved to be too little too late in an 83-71 loss to Austin Peay in front of 2,436 at Vadalabene Center.

The Cougars dropped to 9-14 overall and 5-8 in the Ohio Valley Conference. Austin Peay, which defeated Eastern Illinois Thursday, won back-to-back games for the first time this season. The Governors are 7-20 overall and 3-10 in the OVC.

"That's the thing about this game.  One night you're on a high, but the next night if you don't bring that same intensity you'll be in trouble," SIUE Head Coach Lennox Forrester said.

Austin Peay jumped on SIUE from the outset and never trailed in the game. The Governors got a three-pointer from Travis Betran with 10:43 to play before halftime to go up by 22 at 28-6.

"Give a lot of credit to Austin Peay, I thought they played well," Forrester said. "We knew they were a tough team coming in, but I was disappointed with the lack of intensity our guys came out with."

The Cougars cut the lead to 16 by halftime. A running layup with three seconds remaining in the half by Mark Yelovich made it 40-24 at the break.

The Governors began the second half much like the first, using an 11-1 run to open up a 24-point lead just three minutes into the half.

Yelovich led four SIUE players in double figures scoring. The senior scored 21 points. He led the Cougars with five rebounds. Tim Johnson tied his career high with 17 points, 15 of which came in the second half. Davis (12) and Messer (11) also scored in double figures for SIUE.

Edwardsville natives Anthony Campbell and Will Triggs combined to score 35 of the Governors' 83 points. Campbell led the Governors and tied with Yelovich for game-high honors with 21 points, including four three-pointers. He also grabbed seven rebounds. Triggs scored 14 points. Chris Horton turned in a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds. Travis Betran scored 17 points.

The Governors connected on 56.6 percent (30-53) of their shots for the game. The Governors shot 60.9 percent (14-23) in the second half. The Cougars hit 14 of 30 (46.7 percent) field goal attempts in the second half and shot 42.1 percent (24-57) for the game. APSU outrebounded SIUE 40-22.

The Cougars, who have three OVC games remaining, finish their home schedule Wednesday night when Tennessee State visits the Vadalabene Center for the first time. Tip time is 7 p.m.

"All we can do now is try to pick the pieces up and move on to Wednesday and see if we can put ourselves in a position to win," Forrester said.

Austin Peay 67, SIUE Women 53

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – Raven Berry was SIUE's lone player in double figures Saturday in a 67-53 loss to Austin Peay at the Vadalabene Center.
 
Berry finished the game with her third straight double-double and 34th of her career. The senior, named the Ohio Valley Conference Co-Player of the Week Tuesday, scored 17 points, grabbed 14 rebounds, and finished with a team-best three assists.
 
SIUE fell to 12-13 overall and 6-7 in the OVC. The Cougars will look to rebound Monday with a 7 p.m. game against Murray State. Austin Peay improved to 7-17 overall and 2-10 in the OVC.
 
"We didn't step on the floor and play the way we're capable of playing or the way basketball is supposed to be played," said SIUE Head Coach Paula Buscher. "I thought that was pretty evident early on. Austin Peay came out with a lot of energy, and we weren't able to match it."

Teutopolis graduate Jessie Wendt tallied three points in the contest for SIUE on a three-pointer.

In other games:

Miami 45, Clemson 43

Michigan 79, Penn  State 71

Arizona 68, Utah 64

Louisville 59, South Florida 41

Wisconsin 71, Ohio State 49

NBA All-Star Game at Houston

Western Conference 143, Eastern Conference 138