Illinois 81, Minnesota 72

Scores

Final 2OT

Illinois 81

(12-2, 1-0 Big Ten)

Coverage: BTN

7:30 PM ET, December 27, 2011

State Farm Center, Champaign, IL

	1	2	OT	2OT	T
MINN	27	37	6	2	72
ILL	37	27	6	11	81

Top Performers

Minnesota: R. Sampson III 22 Pts, 9 Reb, 3 Ast, 2 Blk

Illinois: M. Leonard 20 Pts, 11 Reb, 1 Ast, 5 Blk

Illinois 81, Minnesota 72

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Associated Press

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Brandon Paul scored a breakaway dunk that put Illinois ahead in double overtime Tuesday night and Meyers Leonard hit the layup that sealed the 81-72 victory over Minnesota.

Paul swiped the ball from Ralph Sampson III for the dunk that gave the Illini (12-2, 1-0 Big Ten) a three-point cushion at 73-70. Leonard's layup with 1:11 left made it 78-72 and finished the Golden Gophers (12-2, 0-1).

Paul finished with 21 points. Leonard had 20 and a game-high 11 rebounds for his third straight double-double.

Sampson led Minnesota with a game-high 22 points plus nine rebounds. Julian Welch added 15 points.

The Illini led by 13 midway through the second half before the Gophers stormed back to tie it with just over 6 minutes to play on a 3-pointer by Welch. A pair of Leonard free throws with 7 seconds left sent the game to overtime.

Team Stat Comparison

	MINN	ILL
Points	72	81
FG Made-Attempted	26-69 (.377)	28-60 (.467)
3P Made-Attempted	4-14 (.286)	7-21 (.333)
FT Made-Attempted	16-18 (.889)	18-22 (.818)
Fouls (Tech/Flagrant)	19 (0/0)	17 (0/0)
Largest Lead	2	13

Game Leaders

	MINN	ILL
Points	R. Sampson III 22	B. Paul 21
Rebounds	R. Sampson III 9	M. Leonard 11
Assists	M. Ahanmisi 5	B. Paul 6
Steals	R. Williams 2	B. Paul 2
Blocks	R. Sampson III 2	M. Leonard 5
Team Stats: Minnesota \| Illinois

2011-12 Season

DATE	GAME	LINKS
» Dec 27, 2011	@ILL 81, MINN 72	Recap
Jan 28, 2012	@MINN 77, ILL 72	Recap

Next 5 Games

MINN	ILL
01/01 @MICH 4:00pm 01/04 IOWA 9:00pm 01/08 PUR 6:00pm 01/12 @IND 8:00pm 01/15 @PSU 4:00pm	12/31 @PUR 4:00pm 01/04 @NW 7:00pm 01/07 NEB 1:00pm 01/10 OSU 9:00pm 01/19 @PSU 9:00pm
Complete Schedule: Minnesota \| Illinois

Big Ten Conference Standings

TEAM	CONF W-L	TOTAL W-L
#17 Michigan State	13-5	27-7
#2 Ohio State	13-5	27-7
#15 Indiana	11-7	25-8
#11 Wisconsin	12-6	24-9
#16 Michigan	13-5	24-9
Purdue	10-8	21-12
Northwestern	8-10	18-13
Minnesota	6-12	19-14
Illinois	6-12	17-15
Iowa	8-10	17-16
Nebraska	4-14	12-18
Penn State	4-14	12-20
View expanded standings »

ESPN Men's Basketball

Minnesota 72

Illinois 81

Illinois 81, Minnesota 72

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Team Stat Comparison

Game Leaders

2011-12 Season

Next 5 Games

Big Ten Conference Standings