McKendree Downs Southwest Baptist; Illinois Wins

Chris Foster's team picked up their sixth win of the season after defeating Southwest Baptist 77-64.  Alijah Thomas(Desmoines, IA) led the way for the team with 19 points on the afternoon, going 7-for-9 from the floor, 3-for-4 from the arc, and 2-for-3 from the line. Bryson Bultman(Nashville, IL) had 18 points, being 50 percent from the floor and 6-for-6 from the line.

Jacob Donaldson (Effingham) landed 11 points, going 4-for-6 from the floor and 3-for-5 from the arc.

Illinois 75, Wisconsin 60

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Ayo Dosunmu notched a triple double and Kofi Cockburn added a double double in a dominant 75-60 win over No. 19 Wisconsin on Saturday afternoon at State Farm Center. Dosunmu contributed 21 points, 12 rebounds, and 12 assists, while Cockburn added 23 points and 14 boards. Dosunmu's triple double is just the third in program history.

The Illini jumped out to a quick 13-4 lead in the first five minutes, starting the game 6-for-8 from the field. Kofi Cockburn secured his NCAA-leading 13th double-double in just the first half, racking up 12 points and 10 rebounds through an impressive first 20 minutes.

The stifling Illinois defense held Wisconsin to just 23 points in the first half as the Badgers struggled to make shots, shooting just 30% from the field and 0-for-9 from three-point range. The Illini haven't held an opponent scoreless from the three-point line in a half since the first game of the season on November 25 against North Carolina A&T.  

Wisconsin came out shooting the ball much more effectively in the second half, but the Illini were able to hold off the Badgers' comeback effort and come away with a 15-point win. Illinois dominated on the glass, out-rebounding the Badgers 46-19 and limiting the Badgers to just two offensive rebounds.
Trent Frazier put up eight points for the Illini, while Giorgi Bezhanishvili added seven.

UP NEXT

The Illini return to State Farm Center, hosting Northwestern on Tuesday, February 16. The game will air on BTN, and the start time is to be announced.

NOTES

• Illinois is 112-89 all-time against Wisconsin. 

• Illinois snapped a seven-game losing streak against Wisconsin in Champaign, winning for the first time at home against the Badgers since 2011. 

• Illinois has seven Quad 1 wins.

• Ayo Dosunmu finished with 21 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists to become the third Illini in history to record a triple-double. 
Mark Smith, Feb. 1, 1979 vs. Minnesota - 18 points, 13 rebounds, 10 assists 
Sergio McClain, Jan. 13, 2001 vs. Michigan - 10 points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists

• Dosunmu is the first Illini in history to record a triple-double against a ranked team. 

• Dosunmu is the third player to record a 20+ point triple-double against a ranked team in the last 10 years, joining Dennis Smith Jr. (NCST) vs. #21 VT, 1/4/2017 and Denzel Valentine (MSU) vs. #4 KU, 11/17/2015.

• Dosunmu is the first player to record a 20+ point triple-double in a Big Ten game since Ohio State's D'Angelo Russell at Rutgers 2/8/15 (23 points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists).

• Dosunmu is the first player to record a 20+ point triple-double in a Big Ten game against a ranked team since 1999. Evan Eschmeyer (Northwestern) was the last to do it at #23 Indiana 1/13/1999 (27 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists).

• Dosunmu is the only player in the nation averaging at least 20 points, six rebounds and five assists. He averages 21.2 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 5.0 assists per game.

• Dosunmu is on pace to become just the third Big Ten player since 1993 to average 20 points, six rebounds and four assists, joining two Conference Players of the Year in Indiana's Brian Evans (1995-96) and Ohio State's Evan Turner (2009-10). 

• Kofi Cockburn is tied for the NCAA lead in double-doubles with 13 (Terry Taylor, Austin Peay). He has posted double-doubles in 10 of 12 Big Ten games, averaging 18.8 points and 11.3 rebounds during league play. 

• In the first half, Illinois held Wisconsin to a season-low-tying 23 points in a half (Jan. 12 at Michigan). The Badgers were held without a three point field goal made in the first half for the first time this season (0-for-9).

Belmont 94, SIUE 62

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – Carlos Curtis poured a career-high 20 points to lead three SIUE players in double figures Saturday, but it came in a 94-62 loss to league-leading Belmont at First Community Arena.
Playing its fourth game in a week, SIUE fell back to .500 in Ohio Valley Conference play at 5-5. The Cougars are 7-8 overall.
Belmont won its 20th game to improve to 20-1 overall and 14-0 in the OVC. The Bruins have won 17 consecutive games.  

"The disappointing part of it was the execution and some of the breakdowns we had," SIUE Head Coach Brian Barone said. "I think the mental fatigue got us more than anything, not just the physical part. We didn't get into some sets that we have had in from day one."
Belmont connected on 66 percent of its shots (38-58) and racked up 31 assists for the afternoon.
SIUE was 28 for 56 (50 percent) from the field, marking the seventh time this season it has shot at least 50 percent in a game.

"What I liked was the acknowledgement of our mistakes; the self-awareness," Barone added. "These guys want it and they want to be better."
Curtis collected his first 20-point game on 10-of-15 shooting. He added a team-high seven rebounds and three assists.

"Carlos cares," Barone said of the junior guard. "He likes going out there and competing. Carlos is continuing to emerge as someone you can count on and that the team can gravitate towards. As he continues to tighten his overall game up, he is becoming what we expected when we signed him."
Mike Adewunmi scored 15 points and Lamar Wright added 11 for SIUE.

"Mike Adewunmi is giving us his heart and his shot is a little short right now, but he keeps digging in," Barone said.

Nick Muszynski led Belmont with a game-high 22 points. JaCobi Wood scored 13 points and Frank Jakubicek and Grayson Murphy each scored 10 points for Belmont. Murphy dished out 12 assists.

The Bruins scored 27 points off 16 SIUE turnovers and received 47 points from its bench. The Cougars (42) and Bruins (48) combined for 90 points in the paint.

"We had some progress from the last time we played Belmont, but I am not happy with the overall performance, because we obviously lost the game," Barone said.

SIUE plays the final game of a season-long five-game home stand Monday when Eastern Kentucky comes to First Community Arena in a make-up game.
"It's not a typical prep with the way they (EKU) play," Barone added. "We're going to have to be ready to get up and down for 40 minutes."

EIU 62, Tennessee State 45 (Women)

CHARLESTON, Ill. -- The Eastern Illinois Panthers (9-10, 7-7 OVC) defeated the Tennessee State Tigers (0-15, 0-13 OVC), 62-45 on Saturday afternoon.

The Panthers grabbed the lead early and never let it go.
Lariah Washington continues to be one of the most consistent players in the OVC as she led the team with 15 points and went 10-10 from the free-throw line.

Kira Arthofer netted 14 points in today's outing, dished five assists, and recorded five steals. The Panthers have a long road trip to face Jacksonville State next Thursday, Feb. 11, at 4:30 p.m.

QUICK STATS

Abby Wahl recorded a career-high five steals.

Kira Arthofer recorded a career-high five steals.

Jordyn Hughes snagged a career-high six rebounds.

The Panthers as a team recorded the most steals in a game this season with 17.

The Panthers bench outscored the Tigers 9-6; this is only the third time EIU's bench has outscored an opponent this season.

EIU 86, Tenneseee State 72 (Men)

CHARLESTON, Ill. – Eastern Illinois men’s basketball opened with a flurry as the Panthers shot 72 percent in the opening half during a 86-72 win over Tennessee State on Saturday afternoon at First Mid Court at Lantz Arena.

EIU came firing out of the gates as they opened the game with a 16-3 run as Kashawn Charles closed the run with a 3-pointer with 15:34 to play in the first half.  Henry Abraham extended the EIU lead to 21-5 with another 3-pointer at the 13:14 mark as EIU was 8-of-12 from 3-point range in the first half.  The Panthers finished the day 11-of-18 from behind the arc.

Marvin Johnson’s 3-pointer doubled up the score at 36-18 as Johnson drained a 3-pointer with 4:46 to play.  Johnson finished the game with his second double-double of the week scoring 25 points to go with 10 assists.  He had 18 points and 10 rebounds earlier this week in a win at SIUE.  

EIU led 48-26 at the half and extended its lead to a high of 24 points on a Johnson jumper giving EIU a 56-32 lead just three minutes into the second half.
TSU used a 17-2 run to climb back into the contest.  Mark Freeman knocked down a pair of 3-pointers in the run as he finished with 28 points.  Monty Johal capped the run with a steal and lay-up as TSU cut the lead to 67-60 with 8:47 left in the game.  TSU had 12 steals.

Abraham ended the TSU run with a 3-pointer on the next EIU possession as the freshman scored 16 points for the Panthers on 5-of-9 shooting from 3-point land.

The Tigers would close to within seven points one more time on a Josh Linder dunk with 6:31 left in the game.  Sammy Friday IV answered for EIU and the

Tigers never got any closer in the remaining six minutes of action.

Friday returned to the EIU line-up for the first time in two weeks finishing with 17 points.  Jordan Skipper-Brown posted a double-double for EIU with 13 points and ten rebounds.  He becomes the fifth different EIU player to get a double-double in a game this season.

Shakem Johnson just missed a double-double for TSU finishing with nine points and 12 rebounds.  Ravel Moody had 12 points as TSU was held to 39 percent shooting for the game.   EIU finished the game shooting 62 percent from the floor.

The win moved EIU to 7-14 overall, 4-10 in the OVC.  TSU fell to 3-14 overall, 2-12 in the OVC.