>>Illinois Squeaks By St. Bonaventure
Brandon Paul scored 12 points in the final four minutes Wednesday to keep No. 24 Illinois undefeated with a sloppy 48-43 comeback win over St. Bonaventure.
Paul finished off a 3-point play to tied it at 41 with 2:39 left and Meyers Leonard gave the Illini (9-0) their first lead since the first half with a pair of free throws shortly afterward.
Paul finished with 17 points. D.J. Richardson added 11 and Leonard had eight rebounds.
Andrew Nicholson led St. Bonaventure (3-4) with 17 points and eight rebounds.
NCAA Top-25 Men's Basketball
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#4 Louisville Cardinals 90, IUPUI Jaguars 60
#5 Duke Blue Devils 87, Colorado State Rams 64
#8 Xavier Musketeers 73, Butler Bulldogs 61
#12 Florida Gators 78, Arizona Wildcats 72
Dayton Flyers 74, #15 Alabama Crimson Tide 62
#16 Wisconsin Badgers 70, Green Bay Phoenix 48
#25 Texas A&M Aggies 64, Sam Houston State Bearkats 37
>>Illini's Mercilus Wins Hendricks Award
(Champaign, IL) -- Whitney Mercilus of Illinois has been selected as the winner of the 2011 Ted Hendricks Award, presented to the nation's top defensive end. Mercilus leads the nation in sacks with 14-and-a-half and forced fumbles with nine, while compiling 52 overall tackles and 19-and-a-half for loss. He is one shy of tying the NCAA record of 10 forced fumbles and will have a chance to do so when Illinois takes on UCLA in the Fight Hunger Bowl on December 31st in San Francisco. The junior from Akron, Ohio is just one-and-a-half sacks shy of the Illinois single-season record of 16 set by Simeon Rice in 1994. He is also a finalist for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy as the nation's top defensive player.
>> Illinois Extends Coach Search Application Period
Illinois has extended the application period for candidates for its head football coaching position until late Thursday night.
The application period for potential replacements for Ron Zook had ended Tuesday evening.
Sports information director Kent Brown says the extension is routine and isn't unusual in short search periods.
Zook was fired Nov. 27 after the Illini (6-6) finished the regular season with a 6-game losing streak.
Illinois will play UCLA in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl Dec. 31 in San Francisco. Defensive coordinator Vic Koenning is serving as interim head coach.
>> Too Expensive To Send Marching Illini To Bowl Game
The director of the Marching Illini says it will likely be too expensive to send all of the band members to San Francisco for the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl later this month.
The Division of Intercollegiate Athletics plans to send only a small group of band members to the bowl game because of costs. The full Marching Illini has 350 members. Marching Illini director Barry Houser says the current plan is for him and 49 band members to go. But Houser says the plan is "a work in progress."
The University of Illinois is receiving $750,000 for the bowl game. Houser says that's not enough money to send the football team and the entire band to San Francisco. Houser says it's "too expensive."
