Shannon, Illini fall Wisconsin for Big 10 title

Mar 17, 2024, 06:16 PM ET MINNEAPOLIS– Terrence Shannon Jr. scored 34 points on 15-for-17 shooting from the totally free throw line, helping 13th-ranked Illinois pass Wisconsin 93-87 in the Big Ten tournament championship game Sunday.Marcus Domask included

26 points, 8 assists and 7 rebounds and Dain Dainja had 9 points and seven rebounds for the Illini (26-8), who won their fourth conference title and their 2nd in four years after shooting 16 of 26 from the flooring in the 2nd half.Illinois faced

a double-digit deficit in all three games in the competition.

“It was a bit various every night,” coach Brad Underwood said. “I enjoy that.”

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1 Associated AJ Storr had 24 points and Chucky Hepburn added 20 points for the Badgers (22-13), who went 7 for 20 from 3-point variety after going 33 for 79 over their first three games of the tournament.Shannon completed with 102

points in 3 games this weekend, one short of the Big Ten tournament scoring record, and was voted one of the most Outstanding Gamer. Keegan Murray had 103 points for Iowa in 2022, but the Hawkeyes played four games that season on the way to the title.After commemorating in a shower of orange-and-blue confetti and reducing the nets at Target Center, the Illini hustled to a side room for the NCAA Competition choice reveal to learn they’re the No. 3 seed in the East Region, with a first-round game on Friday against Morehead State.Wisconsin got the No. 5 seed in the South Region and a first-round matchup versus James Madison.Shannon, who broke the Huge 10 competition single-game record with 40 points in the semifinal win over Nebraska, still deals with a rape charge in Kansas for an alleged incident in 2015. His school-issued suspension was overthrown by a federal judge after six games.The Wisconsin fans ridiculed him frequently, but he’s not the type of player who can be rattled. He delicately and coolly pulled up for a 3-pointer off the break to provide Illinois a 41-40 lead with 31 seconds left before halftime, blowing a kiss at the crowd that was heavy with red-clad Badgers fans.Both groups were safely in the NCAA competition, with their draw revealed less than an hour after the game, however momentum and self-confidence were still in play even if their seeds were likely already cemented.Hepburn’s three-point play offered Wisconsin a game-high 61-51 lead, but that barely lasted. Illinois went on a 21-5 run over six minutes and ensured this would be a tight game the rest of the way.Max Klesmit made a 3-pointer for an 82-81 lead with 3:53 to go and another for the tie with 1:57 left, but Shannon addressed that a person from deep on the other end to make it 88-85 with 88 seconds left. Then he stole a reckless dribble from Storr on the other end, drove the other way to draw a nasty and sank both free tosses for a five-point lead.” In some cases in my career there’s been moments where those 3s would have just destroyed everything, “said Coleman Hawkins, who had 7 points, 6 rebounds and two blocks.” We made some errors, however we had the ability to keep playing.”Hepburn was one of the heroes of Wisconsin’s overtime victory over top-seeded Purdue in the

semifinals on Saturday, striking the tying layup at the buzzer in policy and drawing a key charging foul to establish Max Klesmit’s winner.The junior guard passed the 1,000-point mark for his career in this game and contributed in all kinds of ways, particularly in safeguarding Shannon however also driving hard to the hoop the way his equivalent does so well. Hepburn didn’t play in the quarterfinal win over Northwestern since of a knee injury.”I seem like he’s one of the very best players in our league,”Hawkins stated.

“When he’s aggressive, I feel like they’re an actually excellent team.”Illinois, the winningest team in the Big 10 over the previous 5 seasons, has its most victories considering that a 26-win team in 2005-06. Illinois won the only regular-season matchup between these groups 2 weeks back, a 91-83 success fueled by Domask’s 31 points in the Waupun

local’s first game in Wisconsin since high school. The graduate transfer from Southern Illinois, who was a first string All-Big 10 pick with Shannon, went 8 for 11 from the flooring in this game.”To come here and get the ring, this is the discussions, the visions I had with Coach throughout the recruiting process,” Domask said,”and we came here and did the job. “Both the Badgers and the Illini made their eighth look in the conference title game, which was staged for the 26th time, an overall bested just by Ohio State’s 9. Michigan State has the most Huge Ten tournament championships with 7.