Illinois Beats Struggling Northwestern

The Illini (19-9, 11-6 Big Ten) moved into a tie for second place in the Big Ten behind Maryland. They took the lead with a big run in the first half and held off last-place Northwestern (6-21, 1-16) down the stretch to win their third straight since a four-game slide that knocked them out of the Top 25.

The Wildcats lost their 12th straight, their worst skid since they dropped 12 in a row during the 1999-2000 season.

Griffin played 21 minutes and made 6 of 8 from beyond the arc, including three during a three-minute stretch in the second half to help Illinois build a 16-point lead. The sophomore is averaging 13 points while making 16 of 30 3-pointers in his last six games.

Dosunmu made 7 of 12 shots. Kofi Cockburn added 12 points and 14 rebounds for Illinois.

Pat Spencer led Northwestern with 18 points, and Miller Kopp scored 14. The Wildcats made just 5 of 20 3-pointers in remaining winless since they beat Nebraska at home on Jan. 11.

It was 51-44 midway through the second half when Griffin threw down an alley-oop dunk and Giorgi Bezhanishvili got credited with a put-back on a ball that Northwestern's Jared Jones might have tipped.

Griffin made three 3-pointers in a span of about three minutes as Illinois bumped its lead to 64-48, drawing loud cheers from their orange-clad fans.

Dosunmu scored 13 in the first half and the 7-foot Cockburn dominated down low with 10 points and seven rebounds as Illinois jumped out to a 34-26 lead.

The Illini took the lead with a 21-5 run that Griffin started with a layup and finished with a 3-pointer to make it 29-16. Trent Frazier hit a runner to make it an eight-point game with 14 seconds left before Spencer missed a turnaround jumper.

UP NEXT: The Illini host Indiana on Sunday for Stripe State Farm Center (1 pm CT on Big Ten Network).

ILLINOIS POSTGAME NOTESTEAM NOTES

• Illinois has won four straight against Northwestern now leads the all-time series with Northwestern 138-42 overall and 63-28 in Evanston after sweeping the home and away series this season.

• With the in Illinois is now 19-9 overall and 11-6 in Big Ten Play. Illinois owns the largest turnaround so far this season (+9.5) among schools from the six major conferences (12-21 last season to 19-9 this season)

• Illinois has 11 conference wins, its most since 2009 (11-7), and will finish over .500 in Big Ten play for the first time since 2010 (10-8). 

• With three regular season games to go, plus the postseason, Illinois has exceeded last season's win total by 7 games and last year's B1G win total by 4 games. 

• Illinois has won five Big Ten road games, tied for most in the league with Maryland.• Illinois out-rebounded the Wildcats 42-29, and now has out-rebounded its opponent in 21 of 28 games, and 12 times by double digits.

• The Illini out-shot Northwestern 47 percent to 41 percent and now are 17-1 this season, and 37-3 in the Underwood era, when shooting better than the opponent.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES    

• Sophomore Alan Griffin scored a career-high 24 points, hitting 9-of-11 field goals and 6-of-8 three pointers, while also pulling down seven rebounds. His previous career highs were 19 points, 8 made field goals and four three-pointers.

• Freshman Kofi Cockburn had his 12th double-double of the season with 12 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. He extended his own Illini freshman double-doubles record.

• Sophomore Ayo Dosunmu continued his strong play, scoring 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting, while pulling down six rebounds and dishing out four assists. He has scored 20+  points in three of the last four games.

EIU 72, SE Missouri 70

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Eastern Illinois held off a couple of late Southeast Missouri charges on Thursday night as the Panthers escaped the Show Me Center with a 72-70 win.

EIU improved to 15-14 overall, 8-9 in the OVC as the Panthers clinched a spot in this year’s OVC Tournament next week in Evansville.  SEMO fell to 7-23 overall, 3-14 in the OVC.

EIU led by as many as 12 points late in the first half as the Panthers held the lead for most of the game.  The Panthers built a double figure lead on a Josiah Wallace jumper with 1:23 left in the first half as EIU led 36-26 at the half.

SEMO made several charges early in the second half closing the EIU lead to four points on a couple of occasions.  The Redhawks did early damage in the half at the foul line going 14-of-17 from the stripe in the second half.

Shareef Smith connected for a pair of free throws for EIU after SEMO cut the lead to 63-61 with 3:33 to play.  Following a lay-up by Sage Tolbert, Wallace answered once again for the Panthers pushing the lead back to four points.

The Redhawks trimmed the lead to one on a 3-pointer by Isaiah Gable with 2:31 left to play.  Skyler Hogan gave SEMO its first lead since the early portion of the game with 2:07 left as he converted a fast break.  Hogan was one of three SEMO players in double figures finishing with 14 points.

Wallace connected at the line on the Panthers next possession to put EIU back in front.  His jumper with 58 seconds left gave the Panthers a 71-68 lead.  Wallace scored 29 points reaching the 20-point mark for the seventh straight game. 

Marvin Johnson scored 11 off the bench while Mack Smith hit a pair of 3-pointers to extend his streak of consecutive games with a 3-pointer made to 78 straight games.

Tolbert posted a double-double for SEMO with 16 points and 14 rebounds.  Quatarrius Wilson had 19 points.

SIUE 90, UT Martin 75

MARTIN, Tenn. – Five SIUE players scored in double figures Thursday and the Cougars led wire to wire, defeating UT Martin 90-75 at the Elam Center.
A 14-0 run over a four-plus minute stretch in the first half allowed SIUE to build a 23-6 lead and the Cougars never looked back, improving to 8-22 overall and 5-12 in the Ohio Valley Conference.

"We are building something special and today proves that," SIUE Head Coach Brian Barone said. "The way we played together and the way we came out really proved that this is going in the right direction."

UT Martin fell to 4-13 in the OVC and 8-20 overall.

The Cougars took a 50-29 lead into the break. The 50 points were the most in a first half for the Cougars and the 21-point lead was SIUE's greatest halftime advantage against a Division I opponent.

"They had 19 assists on 20 baskets in the first half," Barone said. "What that shows is a togetherness and a willingness to give of themselves. That shows they fought for nine months as a team and they're not giving anything away just because our last day is Saturday.

"There was a rhythm," Barone added. "We hit nine threes in the first half. That isn't statistically our style. It was really cool to see how they were playing in that rhythm. Defensively it flowed as well."

The Cougars swelled their lead to as many as 25 in the second half when a Cam Williams' three-pointer made it 58-33.

SIUE connected on 48 percent (33-69) of its shots, including knocking down 11 of 24 three-pointers. Brandon Jackson paced SIUE with 21 points on 9-of-15 shooting. It was the first 20-point game of the season for the senior and the sixth of his career. Jackson now has 897 points and is 22nd all time in career scoring at SIUE.

Shamar Wright and Zeke Moore each scored 13 points and dished out three and four assists, respectively. Kenyon Duling tied his career-high with 11 points and Tyresse Williford scored 10 and added six assists. Iziah James scored seven points and provided a career-best five assists.
SIUE finished the game with a season-best 27 assists as a group.

"One of the things we wanted to do tonight was own the gaps," Barone said. "We had to be in good gap help (defense) and we had to hit the gaps offensively. We defended in the first half very well which led to some easy baskets and some fast-break assists. We had a willingness to pass it to the next guy. It became contagious."

UT Martin made two separate 7-0 runs late in the second half thanks to improved shooting. The Skyhawks were just 9-39 (23 percent) from the floor in the first half and just 1-13 from three-point range. They connected on 16 of 30 (53 percent) of their shots in the second half.

Quintin Dove led UT Martin with a double-double of 26 points and a career-best 22 rebounds. Derek Hawthorne scored 22 points and pulled down nine rebounds for UTM, which outrebounded SIUE 49-41.

SIUE concludes its season Saturday when Eastern Illinois comes to First Community Arena for a 2 p.m. tip.

"You have some seniors that are going to be out there for the last time," Barone said. "This will be the last time I get to coach this team. Let's just cherish every darn moment."