Big Ten Roundup: Illinois Stays Perfect With Win over Nebraska; Penn State Cools Off Rutgers
It wasn't easy, but No. 25-ranked Ilinois remained perfect in the Big Ten on Tuesday night, getting 29 points from guard Trent Frazier in a hard-fought 81-71 victory over Nebraska in Lincoln.
Illinois center Kofi Cockburn was dominant as well, despite being in second-half foul trouble. He had 16 points and 13 rebounds, good for his eighth-straight double-double as the Illini went to 5-0 in league play to take the Big Ten lead, at least for the moment. It's their best conference start since 2005. Michigan State (4-0) is also unbeaten in Big Ten play.
The Illini have won nine straight Big Ten regular-season games and 12 in a row including last year's conference tournament, which they won last March in Indianapolis.
Illinois (12-3) needed to work for it, though, which was no surprise despite the fact that Nebraska (6-11, 0-6) still hasn't won a Big Ten game this year. Illinois won in overtime last year in Lincoln, and lost in 2018.
"Teams see a teams record and say they're not good, but that is a really good basketball team," Frazier said of the Cornhuskers. "That was the whole thing leading up to his game, preparing our mental focus, not looking at their record, not looking at the name on their jersey.
"They gave us a really good punch tonight and I'm glad our guys stuck to it and fought back and finished the game."
Nebraska jumped out to an early 12-point lead and took a 34-31 lead to the locker room before Frazier and Cockburn took over in the second half. Nebraska tied the game at 65-65 on a pair of Bryce McGowens free throws with 3:57 left, but Illinois outscored them 16-6 down the stretch.
Nebraska has lost nine of 10 and a program-record 21 straight against ranked opponents, the last 20 under third-year coach Fred Hoiberg.
Indiana plays at Nebraska on Monday night, the back half of a road trip that starts on Thursday night at Iowa.
Penn State 66, Rutgers 49
Sam Sessoms had 17 points off the bench, and starters John Harrar and Jalen Pickett added 16 and 15 points respectively as Penn State cooled off Rutgers 66-49 in State College, Pa.
Penn State (8-6, 3-3) were dominant defensively, holding Rutgers to just 33.9 shooting from the field, and the Scarlet Knights (9-6, 3-2), who had won three league games in a row, made just five three-pointers on the night. Ron Harper Jr. and Geo Baker, who had been red hot lately, combined for just 5-for-21 shooting.
“I just knew I had to step it up,” Sessoms said Tuesday, a few days out from a poor performance in the loss to Purdue last weekend.. “The game versus Purdue, I wasn’t on the bench angry, because I knew I wasn’t giving my best effort. I was just supporting my teammates from the bench. But I knew next game I had to come out there and play as hard as I can.
“Honestly, mentally it’s just horrible,” Sessoms said. “I know my coaches expect a lot from me, I know my teammates expect a lot from me. Me knowing that I didn’t give my best effort, which is the thing you can control, it just eats me up until the next opportunity. I feel like I’m letting my teammates down in a selfish way because it’s nothing I can’t do. It’s all inner. The days just make you overthink things.”
Purdue at Michigan, ppd.
Tuesday's game between No. 7 Purdue and Michigan in Ann Arbor was postponed because of COVID-19 issues inside the Wolverines' program. This is the second-straight that Michigan wasn't able to play.
The game has not yet been rescheduled. The league also needs to reschedule last weekend's Michigan game with Michigan State.
Wednesday's games
- Minnesota at No. 10 Michigan State, 7 p.m. ET (TV: Big Ten Network)
- Maryland at Northwestern, 9 p.m. ET (TV: Big Ten Network)
Thursday's games
- No. 16 Ohio State at No. 13 Wisconsin, 7 p.m. ET (TV: ESPN2)
- Indiana at Iowa, 9 p.m. ET (TV: Fox Sports 1)
Friday's games
- Nebraska at No. 7 Purdue, 6:30 p.m. ET (TV: FOX Sports 1)
- Michigan at Illinois, 9 p.m. ET (TV: FOX Sports 1)
Saturday's games
- Northwestern at No. 10 Michigan State, Noon ET (TV: Big Ten Network)
- Rutgers at Maryland, 2 p.m. ET (TV: Big Ten Network)
Sunday's games
- Penn State at No. 16 Ohio State, Noon ET (TV: Big Ten Network)
- Iowa at Minnesota, 2 p.m. ET (TV: Big Ten Network)
Big Ten standings
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- BIG TEN ROUNDTABLE PODCAST: Listen in to Wisconsin guard Brad Davison as he talks about the Badgers' hot start to the season. Plus, Wolverines Digest publisher Brandon Brown sits down with Big Ten Roundtable host Tom Brew to talk all things Michigan football. To watch the full 40-minute podcast, CLICK HERE
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