>>Nunn Leads Illini Past Northwestern
Kendrick Nunn had a career-high 25 points, including four straight free throws in the final 7.5 seconds, and Illinois held off Northwestern for a 72-67 victory on Wednesday night.
Aaron Cosby added a season-high 19 points for the Illini (12-6, 2-3 Big Ten), which had lost three of four. Malcolm Hill and reserve Ahmad Starks finished with 10 points apiece.
Northwestern (10-7, 1-3) shot 46 percent, compared to 42 percent for Illinois, and also enjoyed a 35-30 rebounding advantage. But the Wildcats still dropped their third consecutive game.
Bryant McIntosh had 16 points for Northwestern, and Alex Olah finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds.
Nunn had a hand in two of the game's flashiest plays on consecutive Illinois possessions in the second half. The Chicago native fed Nnanna Egwu for a big dunk, and then showed off his athleticism when he slammed home an alley-oop from Jaylon Tate for a 43-35 lead with 16:58 remaining.
>>Indiana State Comes Back To Beat Illinois State in OT
Tre' Bennett sank a layup in the final seconds of overtime to give Indiana State a 71-70 victory over Illinois State on Wednesday night.
Bennett's game-winning shot came with three seconds to play in overtime after Illinois State had taken a 70-69 lead on a Daishon Knight jumper with 21 seconds remaining. Bennett finished with 12 points for the Sycamores (9-8, 5-0, Missouri Valley Conference).
The Sycamores took advantage of Illinois State turnovers in the second period to open a 44-39 lead midway, then stretched it to 51-41 on a Brenton Scott 3-pointer with 8:23 to play. The Redbirds (10-7, 2-3) came back to take a 56-52 lead on an 8-1 run with 4:15 left. Later, the Sycamores tied it 62-62 on a pair of free throws by Khristian Smith in the final seconds of regulation, sending the game into overtime.
Knight scored 21 points for the Redbirds.
>>Illinois Wesleyan Crushes Millikin
Illinois Wesleyan shot 61 percent from the field and made 10 3-pointers in the first half en route to a 93-60 win over Millikin at the Shirk Center on Wednesday, Jan. 14.
Senior Jordan Nelson had seven 3-pointers and finished with a career best 28 points.
Junior TJ Griffin was the only Millikin player in double figures scoring 21 points.
The Titans improved to 11-4 overall and 3-1 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin. Millikin fell to 6-9 overall and 1-3 in the CCIW.
Millikin will travel to Carthage College Saturday at 7 p.m.
IWU stays at the Shirk Center to host North Park Saturday at 7 p.m.
>>Wichita State Clips Southern Illinois
Darius Carter scored a career-high 25 points on 11-of-15 shooting, leading No. 13 Wichita State past Southern Illinois 67-55 on Wednesday night.
Ron Baker had 11 points and Tekele Cotton added 10 as the Shockers (15-2, 5-0 Missouri Valley) won their 23rd straight conference game.
Deion Lavender scored 15 points, Bola Olaniyan had 12 and Anthony Beane 10 as Southern Illinois (7-11, 0-5) lost its seventh straight.
NCAA Top-25 Men's Basketball ("USA Today" Rankings)
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#5 Villanova Wildcats 88, Xavier Musketeers 75
#11 Maryland Terrapins 73, Rutgers Scarlet Knights 65
#12 Notre Dame Fighting Irish 62, Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 59
#23 Baylor Bears 74, #13 Iowa State Cyclones 73
#16 North Carolina Tar Heels 81, North Carolina State Wolfpack 79
