Terrence Shannon Jr. scored 24 of his 26 points in the second half Thursday night as Illinois rallied from an 18-point halftime deficit to stop No. 21 Northwestern 66-62 in Champaign, Ill.
Shannon drove for a layup with 1:16 left to snap a 61-61 tie, then sealed the outcome by making two foul shots with 2.7 seconds remaining.
Matthew Mayer added 14 points, all in the second half, as the Fighting Illini (19-9, 10-7 Big Ten) avenged a January loss to the Wildcats and stayed alive for a double-bye in next month’s conference tournament. Boo Buie starred in defeat for Northwestern (20-8, 11-6) with a game-high 35 points, canning 6 of 11 from the 3-point arc. Brooks Barnhizer scored 11 for the Wildcats,who were playing their first game as a ranked team this season.
No. 4 UCLA 78, Utah 71
The Bruins went on a late, 7-0 run that slammed the door on the Utes’ rally effort and UCLA emerged with a win over Utah in Salt Lake City. Jaime Jaquez Jr. capped his team-high 23-point effort with a 3-pointer off the dribble at the 1:03 mark, pushing UCLA’s (24-4, 15-2 Pac-12) lead to 10 points and effectively sealing the win. Tyger Campbell scored 18 points and Dylan Andrews tallied 10. Jaquez grabbed a team-high eight rebounds. Mike Saunders Jr. posted a game-high 25 points for the Utes (17-12, 10-8). Marco Anthony pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds for Utah and notched nine points.
No. 12 Gonzaga 97, San Diego 72
Drew Timme recorded 22 points and 13 rebounds and the Bulldogs remained alive for a share of the West Coast Conference regular-season title with a trouncing of the Toreros in Spokane, Wash. Ben Gregg matched his career best of 18 points and grabbed seven rebounds, and Julian Strawther added 17 points as the Bulldogs (24-5, 13-2 WCC) won their fifth consecutive game. Nolan Hickman added 10 points for Gonzaga. The Bulldogs are one game behind first-place Saint Mary’s entering Saturday’s regular-season finale against the Gaels in Spokane. Gonzaga has won or shared the title in each of the past 10 seasons. Jase Townsend scored 15 points, and Marcellus Earlington and Deven Dahlke added 11 apiece for San Diego (11-18, 4-11), which lost its fourth straight game and 12th in the last 16.
No. 15 Saint Mary’s 83, Pacific 52
Logan Johnson continued his recent scoring run with 29 points and the Gaels clinched at least a share of the West Coast Conference regular-season title by dismantling the Tigers in Moraga, Calif. Alex Ducas added 17 points, seven rebounds and four blocked shots and Mitchell Saxen had 11 points and six boards for Saint Mary’s (25-5, 14-1 WCC). Saint Mary’s can claim the outright title when it faces No. 12 Gonzaga in Saturday’s regular-season finale at Spokane, Wash. Saint Mary’s won the first meeting. Jordan Ivy-Curry scored 11 points for Pacific (13-17, 6-9), which lost its third straight game and fell for the fifth time in the past six. The Tigers have dropped 16 of the past 17 meetings with the Gaels. –Field Level Media
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