EmailEmail
PrintPrint
Big Ten Roundup: Illinois stuns Purdue, 74-67
Illini freshman nets 26 points in OT winBIG TEN TOURNAMENT
Saturday, March 15, 2008

INDIANAPOLIS -- Demetri McCamey scored 26 points, and Illinois beat No. 17 Purdue, 74-67, in overtime last night in the Big Ten Conference tournament quarterfinals at Conseco Fieldhouse.

McCamey, a freshman guard, made 9 of 14 field goals and all six of his 3-point shots.

Shaun Pruitt added 14 points and nine rebounds for the 10th-seeded Fighting Illini, who advanced to play either No. 22 Indiana or Minnesota in the semifinals today.

E'Twaun Moore scored 22 points and Robbie Hummel added 10 points and 12 rebounds for second-seeded Purdue.

The Illini advanced to the semifinals for the 10th time in 11 Big Ten tournaments. Purdue, which had its highest seed in school history, won 12 of 13 before the loss. The Boilermakers beat the Illini twice in the regular season.

Illinois led, 67-66, in overtime when Mike Davis got a perfect pass from McCamey and scored on a back-door cut to make it 69-66. On Illinois' next possession, Davis rebounded McCamey's miss and scored on an acrobatic putback to make it 71-66 with a minute left.

Purdue never scored again. The Boilermakers missed their final 12 shots.

Purdue (24-8) led, 60-58, late in the second half when Chris Kramer scored on a drive and converted a 3-point play to put the Boilermakers up, 63-58, with 1:12 to play.

Pruitt scored and was fouled by Hummel at the other end with 45 seconds left, but he missed the free throw and Hummel rebounded with Purdue ahead, 63-60.

Kramer traveled with 31 seconds left to give Illinois (15-18) a chance to tie, and McCamey made a 3-pointer over Kramer, the Big Ten defensive player of the year, with 18 seconds to play. Kramer missed a mid-range jumper as time expired, and the game went to overtime.

Illinois led ,13-8, in the early going before Purdue went on a 15-0 run in 5 1/2 minutes to take a 23-13 lead. Illinois fought back, and Pruitt scored on a tip-in with 3.6 seconds left to tie the score, 28-28, at halftime.

The Illini shot 50 percent in the first half, but had 11 turnovers.

Other games

Michigan State 67, Ohio State 60: Drew Neitzel wanted redemption for himself and the rest of the Spartans (25-7). Less than a week after Neitzel was held to just six points in a loss to Ohio State in the final game of the regular season, he burned the Buckeyes (19-13) for a season-high 28 points in No. 19 Michigan State's win in the quarterfinals.

"This is the best I've felt. I just wanted to come out and be aggressive," said Neitzel, who hit six 3-pointers. "I think in a lot of games this year I was aggressive at certain points, and other parts of games I sat back and let my teammates do the work."

Wisconsin 51, Michigan 34: Joe Krabbenhoft scored 12 points and Michael Flowers keyed No. 8 Wisconsin offensively and defensively in the Badgers' ugly 51-34 victory against Michigan (10-22), the lowest-scoring game in tournament history. It was Wisconsin's eighth consecutive win, and its 21st in the past 23 games. The Badgers (27-4) will play Michigan State game in the semifinals today. Michigan's 34 points were also the fewest by one team, falling short of the 40 scored a year ago by Minnesota.

First published on March 15, 2008 at 12:00 am
EmailEmail
PrintPrint