Basketball

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COL BKB: Illinois 80, Northern Illinois 61

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (UPI) -- Brandon Paul had 20 points Tuesday to lead No. 25 Illinois past Northern Illinois 80-61.

Mike Davis added 14 for the Illini (2-0) and also pulled down 17 rebounds.

Illinois took advantage of a sputtering Huskies' offense that committed 19 turnovers and shot just 36.8 percent from the field.

Troy Nixon and Najul Ervin both had 10 points for Northern Illinois (0-2).

The Huskies made a game of it early and managed to knot the score at 18-18 7 1/2 minutes into the game. Paul then took over with a pair of 3-point buckets that keyed an 18-4 run by Illinois.

A 24-6 surge extended the Illinois lead to 42-24 with 5 1/2 to play in the half.

In the second half, Northern Illinois was able to battle back to make it a one-possession game, but failed to overtake Illinois and eventually went cold in the home stretch, failing to score a field goal during a 5-minute stretch.

Copyright 2009 by United Press International

This news arrived on: 11/18/2009

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