BIG TEN ROUNDUP
Illinois victory knocks Iowa out of first
Sunday, February 26, 2006
ASSOCIATED PRESS
JOHN DIXON | ASSOCIATED PRESS Illinois’ Shaun Pruitt defends against Iowa’s Greg
Brunner in the Illini’s 71-59 win.
No . 8 Illinois 71, No . 20 Iowa 59 —
James Augustine was so nervous that he shot an air ball on his first free throw. Dee Brown was 2 of 12 from the field.
It wasn’t exactly the way Illinois’ two senior standouts wanted to play in their final home game. But their teammates came to the rescue to help Illinois (23-5, 9-5) beat Iowa (20-8, 9-5) in a Big Ten game last night in Champaign, Ill.
"They both had special careers here, so we wanted to send them out with a bang on their last night at Assembly Hall," said Rich McBride, who scored 15 points to keep the Illini in the hunt for a third straight Big Ten championship.
The Hawkeyes lost their second straight for the first time in conference play and fell out of first place for the first time since Jan. 30.
"We’ve been in first place for almost six weeks. That’s a heck of a stretch," Iowa coach Steve Alford said. "We’re 20-8 and 9-5 in the best conference in the country and we have two big home games left."
It was the 111 th victory for Brown and Augustine, breaking the school record they shared with Nick Smith, who set it last season.
Brian Randle scored 13 points for Illinois, Augustine recovered from foul trouble to score 12 points and grab seven rebounds, and the bench outscored Iowa’s reserves 17-6.
"The bench did a great job. The other starters did an unbelievable job just to make our night special," Augustine said. "I think they consciously wanted to go out there and play hard for us, and to win another game in the conference."
Augustine spent nearly 16 minutes of the first half on the bench with two fouls and picked up his third just 33 seconds into the second half. Weber said there was no thought to take him out.
"I didn’t even flinch," he said.
While Augustine was on the bench, the Illini got strong inside play from reserves Marcus Arnold and Warren Carter. Arnold scored nine points, Carter had five and freshman Jamar Smith hit a three-pointer.
Brown scored only six points but had nine assists.
"I didn’t make shots. I was thinking too much," Brown said. "I’m going to continue to fire and do my job as far as being a point guard. We came out with a win, so I’m happy."
Greg Brunner scored 27 points for the Hawkeyes, but the Illini defense held Iowa’s other highest scorers down. Jeff Horner scored 11 and Adam Haluska was held to three, missing 5 of 6 shots from the field.
"It was almost like they wanted (Brunner) to score, and as long as they shut us down they were fine," Horner said.
The Illini led 34-29 at halftime and put together a 14-9 run to start the second half. Randle’s basket made it 48-38 with 13:35 to go. Iowa closed to 48-42, but an inside basket from Arnold and a three from Brown pushed the Illinois lead back to nine, and the Illini eventually opened a 63-47 lead.
"For whatever reason, on the road our defense has not been nearly as good as it’s been at home," Alford said.
Penn St . 68, Northwestern 55 —
Travis Parker and Geary Claxton each scored 14 points and Penn State (14-12, 6-9) took advantage of free throws to defeat Northwestern (13-13, 5-9) in State College, Pa.
The win assures the Nittany Lions of at least a .500 record after the Big Ten tournament, strengthening their case for a bid to the National Invitation Tournament.
Penn State scored 20 points from the free throw line (20 of 26), and Northwestern missed all three of its foul shots.
