No. 10 Illinois survives a scare from Indiana, 70-62
Terrence Shannon Jr. made six free throws in the final two minutes to help No. 10 Illinois survive a scare from Indiana, 70-62, on Saturday.
Indiana tied the game at 62 with 1:29 left on a basket by Mackenzie Mgbako, but Illinois scored eight straight points to pull out the victory.
Marcus Domask led Illinois (15-5, 6-3 Big Ten) with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Luke Goode and Coleman Hawkins each had 11 points.
Malik Reneau, who scored 21 points for Indiana (12-8, 4-5), fouled out with 3:02 left. Xavier Johnson had 14 points and Mgbako had 12 points.
The loss is Indiana's third straight during a tough stretch of games against No. 2 Purdue, then-No. 11 Wisconsin and Illinois.
Indiana played without 7-foot center Ke’el Ware, the Hoosiers’ second-leading scorer and top rebounder, who missed his second straight game with an ankle injury suffered in practice.
In his third game back after sitting out six games because of a university-imposed suspension, Shannon had 12 points and six rebounds.
Shannon is facing a rape charge in Kansas, but he was granted a preliminary injunction by a federal judge on Jan. 19 that forced Illinois to reinstate him to the team.
Illinois is in third place in the Big Ten, trailing only Wisconsin (8-1) and Purdue (7-2).
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The Hoosiers were off for seven days following a Jan. 19 loss to Wisconsin. They couldn’t take advantage of an Illinois team that played and lost an overtime game Wednesday vs. Northwestern.
All eyes were on Shannon once again. He played just eight minutes in the first half because of foul trouble, but came through in the clutch with his late free throws. He had 16 points and four assists vs. Rutgers and 12 points against Northwestern in his first two post-suspension games.
Up next, Indiana hosts Iowa and Illinois visits Ohio State on Tuesday night.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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