COLLEGE BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : Gill Scores 27 as Illinois Defeats Missouri

Kendall Gill made sure Illinois retained its stranglehold over Missouri Wednesday night at the St. Louis Arena, but he refused to exercise the Fighting Illini’s bragging rights.

“This is the best team we’ve faced,” Gill said after scoring 27 points to lead fifth-ranked Illinois (7-0) over No. 4 Missouri, 101-93. “It takes a little luck and a lot of hard work.”

Gill, who has shaken off a mild early-season shooting slump, helped Illinois beat Missouri for the seventh consecutive time. The Illini lead the series, 8-1.

Missouri (9-1) got no closer than seven points the rest of the way despite a closing flurry by Anthony Peeler, who finished with 20 points.

No. 3 Georgetown 97, Virginia Tech 64--Despite being unbeaten through eight games with an 37-point average margin of victory, Georgetown Coach John Thompson isn’t ready to concede his Hoyas are a “good team.”

At least not by his standards.

“We could be a good team, but we’re not right now,” he said after the easy win over Virginia Tech (4-3) at Landover, Md., “but it’s better for my health if we win by 30 or 40 points.”

Mark Tillmon scored 29 points and Alonzo Mourning added 27 to lead the Hoyas to their 25th consecutive victory at home.

No. 8 Louisiana St. 73, NW Louisiana 63--Wayne Sims scored 16 points and Louisiana State struggled to a 10-point victory on its home court in a game in which the Tigers were booed as they left the court at halftime.

Northwestern Louisiana (1-7) had taken a three-point lead on Gregg Hardin’s shot at the buzzer, and the frustrated Tigers, plagued by foul trouble, headed for the locker room to a chorus of boos.

Coach Dale Brown opted for a full-court press and man-to-man defense in the second half, and the Tigers (5-1) responded by starting the final 20 minutes with a 25-6 run.

High-scoring Chris Jackson had just 13 points on three-of-16 shooting.

No. 17 Memphis St. 59, New Orleans 55--Elliot Perry scored 25 points to lead the Tigers at Memphis.

Perry was nine for 15 from the field and made seven of eight free throws as Memphis State (5-1) broke from a 50-50 tie.

No. 25 Michigan State 80, Evansville 66--Ken Redfield scored 20 points and Kirk Mannis added 14 for the Spartans (8-2) as they recovered from poor first-half shooting to win at Evansville, Ind.

Scott Shreffler scored 27 points and Dan Godfread had 15 points and 14 rebounds for the Purple Aces (4-6).

Dayton 84, DePaul 73--Negele Knight scored 22 points and Anthony Corbitt and Noland Robinson added 16 each for the Flyers (5-2) at Rosemont, Ill.

The Blue Demons (3-7) dropped their fifth in a row, despite 16 second-half points--including four straight three-pointers--from Terry Davis. David Booth led the Blue Demons with 17, and Melvon Foster added 16.

Virginia 63, Va. Commonwealth 46--John Crotty scored 20 points and Bryant Stith added 16 as the Cavaliers took the lead for good early in the game and rolled to an easy win over the Rams (4-4) in the opening round of the Times-Dispatch Invitational Tournament.

Virginia (7-1) will meet Richmond, a 69-62 winner over Old Dominion, in the championship game tonight.

Tennessee 92, Western Carolina 66--Ronnie Reese scored 17 points and Greg Bell added 16 to lead the Volunteers (5-3) at Knoxville.

The Volunteers added to a 36-23 halftime lead with a flurry of three-point shots early in the second half.

Minnesota 77, Washington 60--Melvin Newbern scored a season-high 23 points and led a ball-hawking defense as the Gophers won at Minneapolis.

The victory was the sixth sin a row for Minnesota (6-1), which recorded 14 steals and held Washington (4-3) to just 10 second-half field goals.

Purdue 60, California 55--Tony Jones and Stephen Scheffler each scored 13 points and the Boilermakers (6-1) held the Bears (6-2) scoreless in the final 3:15 for the victory in West Lafayette, Ind.