Illinois Defeats Penn State, College Roundup

Illinois Sinks Penn State

(State College, PA) -- Kendrick Nunn hit four threes on his way to 19 points as Illinois defeated Penn State Sunday, 60-55, in State College. The Fighting Illini snapped an eight-game losing streak with a 14-10 record overall and 3-8 in the Big Ten. They’re at Nebraska Wednesday.

Northwestern Falls To Nebraska

(Evanston, IL) -- Northwestern took a tough home loss to Nebraska, 53-49, Saturday afternoon. The Wildcats were outscored by 10 in the second half and shot 37-percent from the field on the game. They fell to 12-12 overall and 5-and-6 in the Big Ten. It doesn’t get any easier for Northwestern facing Michigan State at the Breslin Center Thursday night.

Southeast Missouri Downs EIU Men

CHARLESTON, Ill.  – Southeast Missouri snapped the Eastern Illinois men’s basketball team’s three game Ohio Valley Conference winning streak on Saturday afternoon as they defeated the Panthers, 74-68, inside Lantz Arena. EIU dropped to 9-15 (6-6 OVC) on the year and SEMO improved to 13-12 (4-7 OVC).

The Redhawks had their largest lead of the game, 68-60, with 3:10 left in game before the Panthers went on a 5-1 run to get within two (69-67) with just under 40 seconds remaining in regulation. EIU missed its final five shot attempts and SEMO went 5-for-6 from the foul line down the stretch to hold off the Panther comeback.

The Panthers jumped out to an early 5-0 lead to start the game and led 15-10 at the 14:29 mark. SEMO would outscore the Panthers, 13-3, over the next six minutes to take its largest lead of the first half, 23-18. The Redhawks led 34-33 at intermission.

Sherman Blanford paced the EIU offense with 20 points, his third straight game with 20 or more points. Reggie Smith added 13 points and a team-high five assists while Alex Austin chipped in 12 points.

SIUE Nabs Sixth Straight Home Win

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – Donivine Stewart scored a career-high 24 points Saturday to lead SIUE to its sixth consecutive home win, an 84-78 victory over UT Martin in Ohio Valley Conference play at the Vadalabene Center.

The win moved the Cougars to 6-5 in the OVC and into second place in the West Division, one-half game ahead of Eastern Illinois. SIUE is now 10-15 overall. Both win totals are a game better than last season's totals. The win also gives SIUE a 9-3 record in home games. The nine home wins are the most for the Cougars since moving to Division I.

EIU Women Claim Third Straight

CHARLESTON, Ill. – Eastern Illinois shook off a sluggish first half as the Panthers won their third straight home game with a 53-48 win over Southeast Missouri on Saturday afternoon at Lantz Arena.

Both teams struggled to score in the first half as EIU led 19-16 at the half.  EIU improved to 10-12 overall, 5-6 in the OVC.  SEMO fell to 7-16, 3-7 in the OVC.

SEMO led by six points with 9:02 to play in the first half as Patricia Mack hit a 3-pointer to put the Redhawks up 10-6.  EIU slowly cut into the SEMO lead taking a 15-14 lead of their own with 1:36 to play in the first on a Morgan Palombizio lay-up.

The Redhawks open the second half with an 8-2 run as Jordan Hunter hit a lay-up at 17:03 to put SEMO up 24-21.  Hunter had a jumper with 10:17 remaining that put SEMO up 35-30.

EIU tied the game at 37-37 with 6:12 to go and took a 39-37 lead at 5:12 as Sabina Oroszova had back-to-back jumpers for the Panthers.  Oroszova was one of three EIU players to finish in double figures with 11 points.

North Carolina Drops Notre Dame

(South Bend, IN) -- Notre Dame turned the ball over 17 times and missed 15-of-21 from deep as they fell to North Carolina, 73-62, Saturday afternoon in South Bend. Garrick Herman posted 17 points and six rebounds for the Fighting Irish, who dropped to 12-12 and 3-8 in the ACC. ND hosts Clemson tomorrow night.

Syracuse St. John's Win

In college hoop, top-ranked Syracuse beat Clemson 57-44 Sunday at the Carrier Dome. C.J. Fair had 19 points as the Orange improved to 23-0. Syracuse plays at Pitt Wednesday. St. John's upset 12th-ranked Creighton 70-65. The Red Storm visit Seton Hall Thursday.  

Wildcats Slam Beavers

(Tucson, AZ) -- Aaron Gordon posted 17 points and five rebounds as the Wildcats whipped the Beavers 76-54 in Tucson Sunday. Rondae Hollis-Jefferson had 16 points and five rebounds for Arizona, which improved to 23-1 and 10-1 in the Pac-12. U-of-A takes on rival ASU Friday in Tempe.

Wisconsin Dumps Michigan State

(Madison, WI) -- Wisconsin picked up a huge 60-58 win over Michigan State at the Kohl Center Sunday behind 14 points from Nigel Hayes. The Badgers won their second straight game to jump to 19-5 overall and 6-5 in the Big Ten. Wisconsin hosts Minnesota Thursday.  

Sunday, February 9 Scoreboard

NCAA Top-25 Men's Basketball  ("USA Today" Rankings)

#1 Syracuse Orange 57 Clemson Tigers 44

#3 Arizona Wildcats 76, Oregon State Beavers 54

#24 Wisconsin Badgers 60, #8 Michigan State Spartans 58

St. John's Red Storm 70, #12 Creighton Bluejays 65

Monday, February 10 Schedule (All Times Central)

NCAA Top-25 Men's Basketball  ("USA Today" Rankings)

8:00 p.m. - #9 Kansas Jayhawks at Kansas State Wildcats

6:00 p.m. - #17 Iowa State Cyclones at West Virginia Mountaineers

8:00 p.m. - #21 Virginia Cavaliers host Maryland Terrapins