Rutgers Downs Illinois, SIUE Wins, Game vs. EIU Delayed

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Published on December 21 2020 6:15 am
Last Updated on December 21 2020 2:21 pm

PISCATAWAY, N.J. (AP) -- Ayo Dosunmu led Illinois with 22 points, 11 rebounds, and six assists in No. 13 Illinois' 91-88 loss at Rutgers on Sunday afternoon.

Illinois (5-3, 1-1 Big Ten) quickly jumped out to an 8-0 lead, leading by as many as 11 in the first half before going into the break up 41-37.

Rutgers (6-0, 2-0) would get to within one a couple of times in the second half before Harper hit a 3-pointer to give Rutgers its first lead of the game at 49-47 five minutes into the second half. 

However, the lead wouldn't last, as Illinois tied it on the following possession on a dunk by Giorgi Bezhanishvili. The teams would trade leads before Harper had a dunk on a fastbreak midway through the half to make it 54-53. The Scarlet Knights would never give up the lead, going up by as many as 12.
Kofi Cockburn had 17 points and 12 rebounds for the Illini, while Trent Frazier added 19 points and five assists.

The Fighting Illini are in the final leg of a back-to-back road trip, and were looking to start 2-0 in the Big Ten for the first time since 2013-14. While Rutgers prevented Illinois from doing so, the Illini look like a team poised to compete for the Big Ten title.

UP NEXT

Illinois travels to Penn State on Wednesday at 5:30 pm CT.

 

SIUE 69, Morehead State 65

MOREHEAD, Ky. – SIUE men's basketball erased an early deficit and outlasted Morehead State to win its Ohio Valley Conference opener 69-65 Friday atJohnson Arena.

The Cougars improved to 3-4 overall and 1-0 in the OVC. It marks the second straight season the Cougars have won their OVC opener on the road.

"Overall, I am proud of the team effort," SIUE Head Coach Brian Barone said. "Throughout the game, we had a lot of guys step up and make big plays. It was either big shots, big free throws or making big defensive stops."
Morehead State dropped to 4-5 and 1-2 in the OVC.

The Eagles got off to a 7-0 start before Barone called a timeout with 17:23 to play in the first half. The Cougars scored the next 12 straight points and went on 19-5 run, never trailing in the game again.

"I just let them know that I wasn't happy with how we started the game," Barone said. "We practice coming out of timeouts. I like how we responded to that 7-0 start."

SIUE built as much as an 11-point lead (25-14) in the first half and took a 35-30 advantage into the halftime.

After a back-and-forth start to the second half, Morehead State pulled even with the Cougars at 47 apiece when Ta'lon Cooper buried a three-pointer. The Cougars responded by scoring 15 of the next 20 points to lead 60-52 with 8:42 left. Sidney Wilson scored nine of the 15 points and had SIUE back up 10 (62-52) with a pair of free throws at 6:27. Wilson led the Cougars with 18 points in the game.

"We called a couple of plays for him," Barone said of Wilson. "He had a couple of post-ups in that stretch. He was in rhythm. Where you really saw him in rhythm was on the other end and pressuring at the top of the key defensively. It translated to the offensive end. He did a heck of job finishing."
Wilson also added career highs with nine rebounds and five assists.

Morehead State chipped away and got within three with 11 seconds to play after a Skyelar Potter three-pointer. Cam Williams hit one of two free throwswith seven seconds left to seal the win.

Wilson, Carlos Curtis and Lamar Wright each had big rebounds to help SIUE close out the game's final two minutes.

"We had some big rebounds above the rim at the end of the game," Barone said.

The Cougars connected on 50 percent of their shots, hitting 26 of 52 attempts, including eight of 16 three-point attempts.
Curtis was the only other Cougar in double figures. He scored a career-best 13 points an added five rebounds. Williams scored nine points.

Johni Broome led Morehead State with 14 points. Potter scored 12, including three three-pointers.

The Eagles outrebounded SIUE 42-30.

"Our message the last couple of days has been around defense," Barone said. "When you're not rebounding, but you're still getting the stops that is huge."

The Cougars finished with 16 assists on 26 made baskets.

"We have to move the ball," Barone said. "We have to play inside out. We're not a team that can just live on the three."

SIUE returns home to continue OVC play Monday when Eastern Illinois comes to First Community Arena.

"Coming home with a win under our belt is exciting," Barone added. "We need to really compete at home. You have to defend your home court to win the league and that's our goal."

SIUE (3-4, 1-0) vs.Eastern Illinois (3-4, 0-0)Mon., Dec. 21, 5 p.m.First Community Arena

CANCELED

SIUE's scheduled game at Northwestern Dec. 13 was canceled due to what turned out to be a false positive Covid-19 test within SIUE's program.  BARONE

SIGNED THROUGH 2024

On September 3, SIUE Director of Athletics Tim Hall announced the option on Head Coach Brian Barone's contract had been picked up, extending Barone through the 2023-2024 season.

BARONE'S PEDIGREE

Brian's father is the late Tony Barone, Sr., who played at Duke before beginning his coaching career. After stops at Duke and Bradley as an assistant, Tony was the head coach at Creighton (1985-91) and Texas A&M (1991-1998). He also coached the NBA's Memphis Grizzlies during the 2006-07 season.

BLOCK PARTY

With 11 blocks against UHSP, SIUE matched the school record, set in 2006 against Illinois Tech. With 43 total blocks, SIUE is the national leader. At 6.1 blocks per game, the Cougars are eighth nationally. Lamar Wright is second in the OVC at 1.86 blocks per game.

THREE FOR THE E

SIUE hit 13 three pointers vs. LSU, the most against a Division I opponent since the Cougars also hit 13 in a game at North Dakota in 2010. SIUE backed that up with 10 against UHSP. With 50 three-pointers made, SIUE is fifth in the OVC and 87th nationally. The Cougars are fourth in the OVC with a .370 three-point percentage.

SHARP SHOOTERS

SIUE is third in the OVC and No. 99 nationally with a shooting percentage of 46.6. The Cougars have shot 50 percent or better in four games this year.

 

EIU Women 73, SIUE 58

CHARLESTON, Ill. -- The Eastern Illinois Panthers (3-3) dominated their first matchup against the SIUE Cougars (2-3) with a 73-58 victory. Eastern Illinois scored 22 points in the third quarter and held SIUE to only 7 points.

EIU was able to hold its lead the entire game and SIUE never found an answer. Abby Wahl recorded her fourth double-double of the season with 19 points and 10 rebounds. The Panthers will look to get another conference victory in their next game on Dec. 30 against Eastern Kentucky. 

QUICK FACTS

 * Abby Wahl records her fourth double-double; ties her for fifth-most in the OVC * Panthers held the Cougars to seven attempts and zero field-goals made in the third quarter

* Jacqueline Maulucci scored her first-career field-goal in today's game * This is the fourth time this season EIU has had four players score in double-digits

QUARTER-BY-QUARTER

The Panthers and Cougars got off to a quick start in Friday's match-up. The veteran leaders Pace and Wahl got off to a quick start, leading the Panthers with 6-points apiece. SIUE stayed with the Panthers, but Eastern Illinois had the edge. The Panthers led at the end of the quarter: 14-11.

The Panthers found their rhythm in the middle of the second quarter as they found holes in the fast SIUE defense. Wahl neared closer to another double-double for the season. The run continued for Eastern Illinois as a momentum-swinging Pace three-pointer forced the hand of Coach Buscher as she called timeout. EIU shot 44% from the field in the second quarter, as opposed to 30% in the opening quarter. Panthers led 32-21.

Coming out of halftime the Panthers continued to run against the Cougars. Wahl fought hard against the posts of SIUE and won the battle more often than not. Wahl continued to pound in deep, scoring over and over in the Paint. Washington was a dominating factor in the third. SIUE was stunned by the intensity of the Panthers' defense.  Nine turnovers plagued SIUE during the quarter, and the team could not put the ball in the basket, only scoring 7 points in the quarter. Panthers had dominated the third quarter; EIU led 54-28.

The Cougars came out with a new spark of intensity and forced Kyley Simmons to call a quick timeout after guard, Paige Schumann, was trapped in the corner. The Panthers continued to hold the lead in their possession as the final buzzer drew near. Taylor Steele made a couple of quick shots to extend the lead and Brianna Mishler put up a nifty runner to grow it more. Coach Simmons brought the starters back in with four minutes left in the contest and after a few moments the freshman came in for EIU. Jacqueline Maulucci scored her first-career-field-goal with a quick runner. She went on to score another layup and netted 6 points on the day. Panthers won 73-58.

 

SIUE vs. EIU Has Been Delayed

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – SIUE men's basketball's game with Eastern Illinois, scheduled for 5 p.m. Monday has been delayed in accordance with University and Ohio Valley Conference Covid-19 protocols.

The game is tentatively scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.

SIUE women's basketball is scheduled to take on Chicago State earlier Monday. That game also is delayed.