Illinois Colleges Drop Games, College Roundup

Senior Night at Indiana Tech

FORT WAYNE, Ind. – It was senior night for the Indiana Tech men’s basketball team at the Schaefer Center on Wednesday night and senior Antwan Cathey played like it, however, his effort wasn’t enough as the fourth-ranked Golden Eagles of Cornerstone went home victorious, 76-57.

Things got off to a good start for the Warriors (15-12, 10-9) as Tech scored six of the first eight points to take an early 6-2 lead. However, a 13-0 run by Cornerstone pushed the lead to nine, 15-6, but Tech didn’t fold, using an 8-0 run of its own to cut the lead to one, 15-14, with 7:38 left. Unfortunately, the Golden Eagles (24-3, 17-1) were too much for the Orange and Black, outscoring the home team 24-7 over the final 7:30 of the first half to take an 18-point, 39-21 lead into the break.

CU outscored Tech 24-16 in the painted area and 17-3 in points-off-turnovers. Wes Hudson led all scorers with 18 first half points while seniors Cathey and Jeff Hoskins each had six points for the Warriors.

Hoskins added to more of his eight points on a jumper to start the second half, but CU answered with three consecutive three-pointers to push the lead to 23 and building momentum to their largest lead of the contest of 35-points, 62-27 with 12:58 to play. The Warriors kept playing though, outscoring the visitors 30-14 over the remainder of the contest, losing the second half by one point, 37-36.

The Warriors shot the ball well, finishing 21-for-45 (46.7%) from the field, but were just 4-for-15 (26.7%) from three and shot 55 percent (11-for-20) from the charity stripe. Cornerstone finished the contest shooting 57.1 percent (32-for-56) from the floor, 50 percent (7-for-14) from behind the arc and 5-for-10 from the line.

Cathey finished with a career-high 17 points and tied his career-high with eight rebounds, both team-highs, while Tanner Watkins added 12 points.
Hudson led CU with 24 points while Ben Lanning led the team with six rebounds. Effingham High School graduate,  Jeremy Wohltman, hit two of five from the field and one of three at the line for five points. He also had one assist.

Austin Peay Holds On For Win Over EIU

LARKSVILLE, Tenn.  – Austin Peay held off a late rally by the Panther men’s basketball team as they held on for an 88-83 victory over EIU on Thursday night inside the Dunn Center. EIU falls to 9-16 on the year and 6-7 in conference play.

Trailing by as many as 13 points (80-67) with 1:18 left in the game, the Panthers rallied to get within three, 84-81, on a Dylan Chatman three pointer with 23 seconds on the clock. Austin Peay hit its final four free throw attempts to hang on for the victory before Sherman Blanford dunked in the Panthers final basket as time expired for the final 88-83 ledger.

Blanford scored a career-high 32 points with a career-high 18 rebounds in the loss. He went 13-for-20 from the floor and 6-for-6 from the foul line. The senior forward has now scored 20 or more points in four consecutive games.

Murray State Downs SIUE

MURRAY, Ky. – Murray State used a 13-2 run over the final 3:33 seconds of the first half Thursday to build an 11-pont halftime lead and held on for an 82-72 win over SIUE in Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball at the CFSB Center.

The los drops SIUE to 6-6 in OVC play and 10-16 overall. The Cougars remain second in the West Division, four games behind the Racers, who improved to 15-9 overall and 10-2 in the OVC.

"There was a segment there in the first half where we dug ourselves a hole," SIUE Head Coach Lennox Forrester said. "We weren't attacking like we were when we started out the game."

Fueled by a trio of three-pointers, SIUE opened up a 14-6 lead over the game's first 15:29. Murray State went on an 11-0 run to lead by 3 (17-14) after a Jeffery Moss jumper with 12:29 to play. Christian Salecich hit a three-pointer with 9:02 left in the half to push the Cougars in front 22-21 with 9:05 left before halftime. The teams then traded leads several times. A Kris Davis layup with 3:48 left tied the game for the fifth time, 35-35, before the Racers went on their final run of the period.

Butler Falls To Creighton

(Indianapolis, IN) -- Kellen Dunham had 16 points but Butler fell short in a 68-63 loss to 17th-ranked Creighton last night at Hinkle Fieldhouse. Alex Barlow added 13 points for Butler, which fell to 12-13 with a 2-11 Big East record. The Bulldogs are at St. John's next Tuesday.

Minnesota Falls Short Against Wisconsin

(Madison, WI) -- The Golden Gophers failed to amount the comeback last night, dropping a Big Ten contest to Wisconsin 78-70. Austin Hollins and Malik Smith hit three's on consecutive possessions to pull the Gophers within five with under a minute to go, but free throws sealed the deal for Wisconsin. Minnesota was led by Hollins' 22 points, which were a game high. The Golden Gophers fall to 5-7 in Big Ten play and will travel this weekend for their Sunday game against Northwestern.

Bulldogs Pound Pepperdine

(Spokane, WA) -- David Stockton and Kevin Pangos both had 18 points to power the Bulldogs to an 83-68 win over Pepperdine in Spokane. Gonzaga improves to 22-4 with a 12-1 WCC record. The Bulldogs host LMU Saturday.

Weather Postpones Louisville-Temple

(Philadelphia, PA) -- Last night's game between eighth-ranked Louisville and Temple was postponed due to inclement weather. The teams will now meet tonight.  Temple has lost 11 of its last 12 games and is 6-16 overall and 1-9 in AAC play. Louisville has won six of its last seven games and is 19-4 on the season, including 8-2 in conference play.

Illinois Meets Ohio State Saturday

(Champaign, IL) -- Illinois squares off with number-20 Ohio State tomorrow at the State Farm Center. The Fighting Illini are 14-and-11 after Wednesday's loss at Nebraska. Illinois is just 3-9 in the Big Ten. The Buckeyes are 19-6 with a 6-6 conference mark. Saturday's tip is set for 7:00.

College Basketball Roundup

In local college hoops last night, Northwestern lost 85-70 at Michigan State while UIC suffered a 73-53 loss at Cleveland State. Saturday, DePaul takes on Providence in Rhode Island while Northern Illinois travels to face Akron. Notre Dame is at Boston College on Sunday.

Thursday, February 13 Scoreboard

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

#8 Louisville Cardinals at Temple Owls (PPD)

#10 Michigan State Spartans 85, Northwestern Wildcats 70

#17 Creighton Bluejays 68, Butler Bulldogs 63

#21 Wisconsin Badgers 78, Minnesota Golden Gophers 70

#24 Gonzaga Bulldogs 83, Pepperdine Waves 68

Friday, February 14 Schedule (All Times Central)

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

5:00 p.m. - #8 Louisville Cardinals at Temple Owls

8:00 p.m. - #3 Arizona Wildcats at Arizona State Sun Devils