Terrence Shannon Jr. set a Big Ten tournament record with 40 points and second-seeded Illinois recovered from a 15-point, second-half deficit to post a 98-87 victory over third-seeded Nebraska on Saturday in Minneapolis to reach the conference title game.
Shannon’s career-high output included 22 points in the second half of the semifinal contest. The Fighting Illini (25-8), ranked 13th, outscored the Cornhuskers 58-36 in the second half after trailing by 11 at the break.
Marcus Domask added 16 points, eight assists and seven rebounds for Illinois, which will face fifth-seeded Wisconsin in Sunday’s championship game.
Quincy Guerrier added 13 points and Luke Goode had 12 on four 3-pointers for the Illini.
Brice Williams scored 23 points for Nebraska (23-10), which played in the Big Ten semis for the first time.
Keisei Tominaga added 18 points and Rienk Mast scored 13 of his 15 points in the first half for the Cornhuskers.
Shannon was 11 of 22 from the field and made 13 of 16 free throws while passing the former Big Ten tournament scoring mark of 35, set by Northwestern’s Michael Thompson against Minnesota in 2011.
The Illini shot 46.4 percent from the field, including 13 of 35 from 3-point range.
Nebraska also shot 46.4 percent from the field, but was just 8 of 27 from behind the arc.
Nebraska led by 11 at halftime before getting baskets from Williams and Tominaga to increase its lead to 55-40 with 19:01 remaining.
But the Cornhuskers then went flat and Illinois dominated the rest of the contest.
Illinois trailed by 14 before rattling off 10 straight points to move with 57-53 with 13:26 remaining.
The Cornhuskers held a 63-58 lead after an inside basket by Josiah Allick before the Illini made a push and tied the score at 68 on a basket by Goode with 9:19 left.
Goode buried another trey to give Illinois a 71-70 edge for its lead since it held a 10-8 advantage four minutes into the game. Coleman Hawkins and Domask followed with baskets to give the Illini a five-point lead with 7:20 left.
Guerrier’s basket elevated the score to 82-73 with 5:30 remaining. A 3-pointer by Shannon boosted the lead into double digits at 85-74 with 3:26 left.
Guerrier’s trey made it 90-75 with 2:01 remaining as the Illini closed it out.
In addition to Mast’s 13 first-half points, Williams had 11 as Nebraska led 51-40 at the break.
Shannon scored 18 in the half for Illinois.
–Field Level Media