College Basketball Roundup : No. 2 Illinois Comes Up Empty, Loses to Purdue

The way Lou Henson saw it, second-ranked Illinois should have been shooting a free throw to complete a 3-point play and tie the score. Instead, the Illini came up short all the way around.

Purdue got 7 free throws and a basket by Stephen Scheffler in the final 2:31 to knock off the Illini, 76-72, Thursday night in a Big Ten game at West Lafayette, Ind.

Illinois (18-2, 5-2) was trailing, 75-72, when Nick Anderson scored with 10 seconds left and was fouled. However, the officials disallowed the basket, saying he was fouled before the shot and he missed the free throw.

Purdue (10-11, 3-5) clinched the victory on Scheffler’s free throw with 7 seconds left.

“We should have had the basket and the one-and-one,” Henson said. “Besides, the (official) under the basket couldn’t have called it anyway. It is just ridiculous . . .

“I think we played a pretty good basketball game. I think they played great.”

The Boilermakers made 71% of their shots in the first half and 61% for the game.

Ryan Berning’s 2 free throws gave Purdue a 69-65 lead with 2:31 left. The Boilermakers stayed ahead on Scheffler’s basket with 1:15 left and Loren Clyburn’s 2 free throws.

Stephen Bardo’s 3-pointer with 32 seconds left pulled the Illini to within 73-72, but Purdue’s Tony Jones made 2 free throws with 27 seconds left.

The Boilermakers made 17 of 24 shots in the first half, but still trailed, 41-39, at halftime. Jones’ basket with 7:42 left gave Purdue the lead for good, 62-60.

Jones scored 22 points for Purdue, and Lowell Hamilton had 18 for Illinois.

Georgia Tech 81, Duke 76--Dennis Scott scored 9 of his 20 points in the final 2:40 and the Yellow Jackets beat the No. 12 Blue Devils in an Atlantic Coast Conference game at Atlanta.

Scott hit a 3-point shot and 6 free throws to put Tech (13-6, 3-2) in command after Duke rallied from an 11-point deficit to within 68-66.

Danny Ferry scored 27 points for Duke (14-4, 4-4), which lost for the fourth time in 5 games. Brian Oliver had 20 points for Tech.

Iowa 102, Northwestern 84--Ed Horton scored 20 of his 24 points in the second half and Roy Marble added 19 as the ninth-ranked Hawkeyes pulled away to a Big Ten victory over the Wildcats at Iowa City, Iowa.

Northwestern (8-11, 1-8) was within 76-74 with 9:24 left when Iowa (16-4, 4-3) blew open the game with a 14-4 surge. The Hawkeyes hit 16 of 21 free throws to pull away in the final minutes.

B.J. Armstrong added 17 points for Iowa, which is unbeaten in 10 home games this season. Walker Lambiotte scored 34 points for Northwestern.

West Virginia 79, Rhode Island 71--Steve Berger scored 19 points, including the go-ahead basket, and the No. 18 Mountaineers got past the Rams in an Atlantic 10 Conference game at Kingston, R.I.

The victory was the 15th in a row for West Virginia (16-2, 10-0), which set a school record of 8 straight road victories.

The Mountaineers trailed by 5 points in the first half but took the lead for good on Berger’s 3-pointer with 13:08 left. The Rams closed to within a point on several occasions, but went scoreless for a 4 1/2-minute stretch and West Virginia pulled away.

Eric Leslie scored 16 points for Rhode Island (8-10, 4-6).

Notre Dame 83, Marquette 68--Jamere Jackson scored 23 points, including 10 free throws without a miss, and the Irish downed the Warriors at South Bend, Ind.

Marquette (8-8) had a 37-35 halftime lead, but Notre Dame (12-3) took charge by scoring the first 11 points of the second half.

Tyrone Baldwin had 20 points for Marquette (8-8).