By Greg Halbleib
Saturday’s scoreboard presented by COUNTRY Financial Representative Eric Lapan includes a pair of close losses by Illinois State and Illinois Wesleyan men’s basketball.
MEN: Ole Miss 81, Illinois State 74
Illinois State (6-5) lost its third straight game in an 81-74 decision to Ole Miss (6-2) on Saturday night at Redbird Arena. The visitors shot 53 percent from the field in the win.
“I thought we competed much harder and had a better mindset,” Redbird coach Dan Muller told the Redbird Sports Network after the game. “Defensively, we still have a long way to go.”
Milik Yarbrough led five Redbirds in double-figure scoring with 19 points. Phil Fayne contributed 13 points and 11 rebounds. Josh Jefferson added 14 points with 11 coming from Zach Copeland and 10 from Isaac Gassman. Breein Tyree led Ole Miss with 22 points followed by Terence Davis with 20 points.
Illinois State resumes play after finals week by leading off a men’s-women’s doubleheader on Sunday, Dec. 16 at 1 p.m. at Redbird Arena against Cleveland State.
MEN: Augustana 67, Illinois Wesleyan 60
Number 3 Augustana pulled away late in a close contest at Carver Center in Rock Island for a 67-60 win over Number 8 Illinois Wesleyan in a battle of two of the nation’s top Division III teams.
Augustana (7-1, 2-0 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin) was led by Nolan Ebel with 23 points. Illinois Wesleyan (7-2, 1-2) was led by Brady Rose with 13 points and Alex O’Neill with 11 points.
WOMEN: Illinois Wesleyan 83, Augustana 76
Maddie Merritt led Number 13 Illinois Wesleyan (8-2, 3-0 CCIW) with 28 points in an 83-76 victory at Augustana (4-5, 1-2). Nina Anderson added 15 points with Brook Lansford chipping in 13 and Raven Hughes contributing 11 points.
IWU hosts Carroll in a doubleheader on Saturday at Shirk Center. The women’s game tips at 5 p.m. followed by the men’s contest at 7 p.m.
MEN: Illinois 77, UNLV 74
Andres Feliz led Illinois (3-7) with 19 points and intercepted a pass and dribbled out the clock in a 77-74 win over UNLV at State Farm Center. Kipper Nichols scored 12 and Ayo Dosunmo added 10 for the Illini, who host East Tennessee State next Saturday at 1 p.m.
WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL: Illinois 3, Wisconsin 1
Illinois volleyball advanced to the Final Four for the first time since 2011 with a four-set win over Wisconsin at Huff Hall. Jacqueline Quade led the Illini (32-2) with 25 kills. Illinois faces fellow Big Ten member Nebraska in the national semifinals on Thursday in Minneapolis.
GIRLS HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL:
Normal West 56, Normal West 45
U-High 59, Jacksonville 17
Central Catholic 69, Byron 52
BOYS HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL:
Moline 55, Normal West 45
Central Catholic 80, Monmouth-Roseville 54
SUNDAY:
Boys High School Basketball–Bloomington vs. Chicago Leo (Team Rose Shootout at Chicago Mt. Carmel High School), 1:30 p.m.
WJBC-AM 1230:
NFL–Falcons at Packers, 11:30 a.m.; Bengals at Chargers, 3 p.m.; Rams at Bears, 6:30 p.m.
Greg Halbleib can be reached at and scores reported to [email protected].
