Top 25 roundup: No. 17 Illini clamp down on Northwestern

Field Level Media|published: Sun 26th January, 17:57 2025

NCAA Basketball: Northwestern at Illinois

Jan 26, 2025; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini guard Kasparas Jakucionis (32) and Northwestern Wildcats guard K.J. Windham (24) vie for a loose ball on the floor during the first half at State Farm Center. Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-Imagn Images

Kylan Boswell scored 17 points to lead five players in double figures as No. 17 Illinois rolled to an 83-74 Big Ten victory over visiting Northwestern Sunday afternoon in Champaign, Ill.

Starting for 7-foot-1 Tomislav Ivisic, who missed his second straight game due to mononucleosis, freshman center Morez Johnson Jr. recorded 15 points, nine rebounds and three blocks as the Fighting Illini (14-6, 6-4) built a 22-point halftime lead on their way to snapping their first two-game losing streak of the season.

Kasparas Jakucionis produced 11 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists, while Ben Humrichous (14 points, four 3-pointers) and Jake Davis (11 points, three 3-pointers) also reached double figures.

Nick Martinelli, the Big Ten's leading scorer, paced Northwestern (12-8, 3-6) with 17 points, but needed 19 field-goal attempts to do it. Jalen Leach (7 of 15) added 17 points and four assists. Brooks Barnhizer, who entered the game averaging 18.5 points, finished with a season-low three points as Northwestern coach Chris Collins opted to rest the injury-plagued senior for the final 12 minutes.

No. 18 Wisconsin 83, Nebraska 55

John Tonje had 27 points and John Blackwell added 14 to lead the host Badgers to a victory over the Cornhuskers in Madison, Wis.

Kamari McGee added 11 points for Wisconsin (16-4, 6-3 Big Ten), which bounced back from an 85-83 road loss at UCLA on Tuesday after a seven-game winning streak to improve to 11-1 at home.

Brice Williams had 11 points for Nebraska (12-8, 2-7 Big Ten), which has lost six straight games. Nebraska shot just 33.9 percent from the field and 3-for-8 from the foul line.

No. 24 Memphis 100, UAB 77

PJ Haggerty scored 23 points, Dain Dainja had 21 and the Tigers never trailed in defeating the visiting Blazers in a battle of first-place teams in the American Athletic Conference.

PJ Carter added 14 points, Colby Rogers scored 12 points and Nicholas Jourdain had 11 for Memphis (16-4, 6-1 AAC), who shot 62.3 percent from the floor and had a 32-16 advantage in points off turnovers. The Tigers and North Texas are the only teams left in a first-place tie in the league.

Efrem Johnson had 21 points, Bradley Ezewiro scored 19 and Yaxel Lendeborg added 18 points and 10 rebounds to lead UAB (12-8, 5-2), which saw their five-game winning streak end.

--Field Level Media