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Illinois State beats Wake Forest 78-75, winning twice in NIT for first time in 30 years

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) — Ty Pence had 23 points, Johnny Kinziger scored 19, including a go-ahead 3-pointer with two seconds left, and Illinois State rallied to beat top seed Wake Forest 78-75 on Sunday in the second round of the NIT.

Fourth-seeded Illinois State (22-12) heads to No. 2 seed Dayton for a campus-site quarterfinal. The last time the Redbirds won twice in a NIT appearance was in 1996.

Illinois State trailed 53-44 with 11:28 remaining before rallying to tie it on Landon Wolf’s 3-pointer with 6:29 to go and then taking the lead on a Pence 3-pointer on its next possession.

There were four lead changes and five ties from there — the final tie came on Tre’Von Spillers layup with 28 seconds left to set the stage for Kinziger.

Pence made 8 of 11 shots with three 3-pointers and all four of his free throws. Kinziger buried 5 of 10 from beyond the arc and added five assists. Chase Walker scored 15.

Spillers made all 11 of his shots and scored 24 to pace the Demon Deacons (18-17), adding eight rebounds. Juke Harris totaled 20 points, eight rebounds and four assists. Harris finished with 750 points this season — the second highest total in program history. Len Chappell set the record with 932 points during the 1961-62 season. Chappell had 745 points his prior season. Dickie Hemric scored 746 in 1954-55.

Omaha Biliew added 11 points and six boards for Wake Forest, while Myles Colvin scored 10 off the bench.

Cooper Schwieger’s dunk for Wake Forest in the final minute tied it 32-all at halftime.

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Hawkeyes are set to play Vanderbilt in a November women’s basketball game in Sioux City, Iowa

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — Vanderbilt and Iowa, both ranked in the top 10 late last season, will meet in a women's basketball game early next season in northwest Iowa, the schools announced Tuesday. The neutral-site game is set for Nov. 15 at the Tyson Events Center, which is 290 miles from Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City. Vanderbilt is 4-0 all-time against the Hawkeyes. This will be the teams' first meeting since 1997. The Commodores are expected to return national scoring leader Mikayla Blakes. She averaged 27 points per game and was Southeastern Conference player of the year. Vanderbilt was ranked as high as No. 5 and finished No. 10 with a 29-5 record after reaching the NCAA Sweet 16.
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