Frazier delivers KO punch for Illini
No. 18 Illinois needed someone other than Kofi Cockburn to produce on the road Saturday. Trent Frazier delivered with a nearly flawless second half.
The fifth-year senior guard made all three of his shots inside the arc, went 2-for-3 from three-point range and hit both free throws to finish with 23 points while leading the Fighting Illini (17-5, 10-2 Big Ten) to a 74-57 victory at Indiana (16-6, 7-5).
“That’s why I came to this school, to play in these types of environments with the emotion and the energy,” Frazier said after Illinois produced its largest victory margin in the 50-year history of Indiana’s Assembly Hall. “It’s always fun to play these types of games, especially a victory.”
Frazier also returned this season to win a Big Ten championship, and after winning their fourth in a row overall — and their second straight on the Hoosiers’ home court — the Illini still have the league lead.
Cockburn played a solid game. He finished with 17 points and eight rebounds. Indiana was led by Race Thompson with 13 points and six rebounds.
DePaul 69, Xavier 65
Courvoisier McCauley was an unlikely hero for the short-handed Blue Demons (11-10, 2-9 Big East), who snapped a four-game losing streak with a road victory over the No. 21 Musketeers (16-6, 6-5).
Coming in averaging 3.2 points per game, McCauley bounced off the bench to burn Xavier for 21 points (8-for-12 shooting), five rebounds and three assists in 28 minutes.
Jalen Terry added 13 points, Brandon Johnson 12 and David Jones 10 for DePaul, which won at Cintas Center for the second time.
“We had some adversity in that game. The guys we have are pretty resilient,” DePaul coach Tony Stubblefield said.
Paul Scruggs led Xavier with 21.
Northwestern 87, Nebraska 63
Boo Buie tallied a season-high 27 points and the visiting Wildcats (11-10, 4-8 Big Ten) sank a seasonhigh 13 three-pointers in routing the free-falling Cornhuskers (6-17, 0-12).
Northwestern led 49-27 at halftime after shooting 10-for-23 on threes. The Wildcats finished the game 13-for-31 from distance and shot 49% overall. Julian Roper’s layup with 4:53 to go matched Northwestern’s biggest lead at 35, but the Wildcats did not score again.
Chase Audige added 16 points for the Wildcats. Buie went 6-for-11 from beyond the arc and shot 10for-15 overall. With the game well in hand, none of Northwestern’s starters played more than Buie’s 26 minutes.
Youngstown State 66, UIC 64
Shemar Rathan-Mayes sank two free throws with eight seconds left as the Penguins (14-10, 8-6 Horizon League) eked out a road victory over the Flames (8-13, 4-8) at Credit Union 1 Arena. Damaria Franklin led UIC with 23 points, and Jalen Warren added 13.
Notre Dame 69, N.C. State 57
Paul Atkinson and Dane Goodwin posted double-doubles as the surging Fighting Irish (16-7, 9-3 ACC) recovered after blowing a 17-point first-half lead to beat the host Wolfpack (10-14, 3-10).
Rutgers 84, Michigan State 63
Paul Mulcahy had his first double-double with 15 points and 12 assists as the host Scarlet Knights (13-9, 7-5 Big Ten) routed the No. 13 Spartans (17-4, 8-3).
Purdue 82, Michigan 76
Jaden Ivey scored 23 points and Trevion Williams added 19 to lead the No. 4 Boilermakers (20-3, 9-3 Big Ten) over the visiting Wolverines (11-9, 5-5).
Wisconsin 51, Penn State 49
Tyler Wahl made a tiebreaking layup with 30.5 seconds left as the 11th-ranked Badgers (18-4, 9-3 Big Ten) topped the visiting Nittany Lions (9-10, 4-7).