National Basketball Association
Illinois 73, Hampton 55
When: 7:00 PM ET, Wednesday, December 17, 2014
Where: State Farm Center, Champaign, Illinois
Officials:
# Kelly Pfeifer, # Robert Riley, # Gene Steratore
Attendance:
12564
By SportsDirect Inc.
Illinois 73, Hampton 55: Kendrick Nunn scored a
season-high 16 points as the Illini beat the visiting Pirates.
Rayvonte Rice added 12 points, and Nnanna Egwu had
10 points and five blocks for Illinois (8-3), which posted its 35th
straight non-conference home win. The Illini, who also received a team-high eight rebounds off the bench from Leron Black, hit 9-of-21 3-pointers and had a 22-2
free-throw advantage to overcome a season-high 16 turnovers.
Dwight Meikle and Deron Powers scored 12 points apiece to
pace Hampton (4-6), which fell to 1-5 on the road. Leading scorer Quinton
Chievous added 10 points but shot only 4-of-13 from the field while pulling
down a team-high eight rebounds.
The Pirates were
within 50-40 following three straight Meikle jumpers but then bogged down with
a flurry of turnovers and off-target shots during a nearly seven-minute scoreless
drought, and Illinois took advantage with a 15-0 run to take a 65-40 lead. The
Pirates never got closer than 18 points during the final five minutes.
Illinois jumped out to a 7-0 advantage and led by
as much as 27-11 before Hampton used a 10-0 run to cut the deficit. The
Illini closed the half with a 10-4 run, capped by Nunn’s buzzer-beating
3-pointer from the corner to give the hosts a 12-point intermission cushion.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Illinois’ 35-game non-conference
home win streak trails only Duke (114 straight) and Minnesota (40) nationally.
… The Illini entered the game ranked fifth nationally in free-throw percentage
at 77.2 and improved on their success rate by converting 22-of-26 attempts. … Hampton,
which lost to Iowa 90-56 to open the season, is now 0-10 all-time against Big
Ten opponents.
Top Game Performances
Hampton |
|
Illinois |
Dwight Meikle 12 |
Scoring |
Kendrick Nunn 16 |
Ke'Ron Brown 2 |
Assists |
Kendrick Nunn 3 |
Quinton Chievous 8 |
Rebounds |
Leron Black 8 |
Ke'Ron Brown 1 |
Free Throws Made |
Jaylon Tate 8 |
Ke'Ron Brown 3 |
Steals |
Aaron Cosby 1 |
Jervon Pressley 2 |
Blocks |
Nnanna Egwu 5 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Hampton
|
55 |
34.8 |
7-15 |
2-9 |
9 |
35 |
3 |
7 |
12 |
Illinois
|
73 |
42.9 |
9-21 |
22-26 |
12 |
34 |
8 |
3 |
16 |