Illinois men’s basketball finally earned its first Big Ten Conference win of the season with a 73-71 victory over Indiana at State Farm Center. Leron Black and Trent Frazier led the Illini with 19 points each. The Illini are off until Tuesday when they host Rutgers, who lost 60-54 to Nebraska.
A second-half comeback could not overcome a 25-0 first half run by Northern Iowa as Illinois State men’s basketball dropped its second straight contest, 83-72 in Cedar Falls. Keyshawn Evans led the Redbirds with 25 points.
Also in Missouri Valley Conference men’s action, Loyola cruised over Drake 80-57, Evansville defeated Valparaiso 75-65 and Southern Illinois edged Indiana State 82-77.
18th-ranked Illinois Wesleyan men won at Elmhurst 93-76. Zach Knobloch hit six three-pointers to lead the second-half comeback for the Titans.
The Illinois Wesleyan women cruised past North Central 108-54 at Shirk Center. The 17th-ranked Titan women have won 14 in a row.
The College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin is expanding its post-season tournaments in four sports. The conference announced Wednesday that women’s volleyball, men’s and women’s basketball and baseball tournaments will grow from four to six teams beginning in the 2018-19 school year. The league said the expansion follows the addition of Carroll University to the CCIW and a year-long review by head coaches, athletic directors and institution presidents. Winners of the conference tournaments receive automatic NCAA tournament bids.
Pontiac boys basketball won its 7th grade regional, upsetting top seed Iroquois West 33-28 in double overtime.
A Peoria native has been selected for induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Jim Thome played 22 seasons from 1991 to 2012 with six teams including the Chicago White Sox and the Cleveland Indians. He hit 612 home runs over the course of his career, the eighth-most of all time. Thome was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame along with Chipper Jones, Vladimir Guerrero, and Trevor Hoffman.
In tennis, Simona Halep and Caroline Wozniacki will meet for the women’s singles title at the Australian Open after semifinal wins yesterday.
