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Purdue basketball player says family subject of racist comments at Illinois

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Purdue basketball player says family subject of racist comments at Illinois


CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Before the cameras and audio recorders shut off, Purdue basketball player Trey Kaufman-Renn made a motion that he had one more comment to make before leaving State Farm Center on Friday night.

Kaufman-Renn said he was informed by his mother and girlfriend of racist comments directed at his 13-year-old brother from the Illinois student section.

Kaufman-Renn’s family sat in a designated area behind Purdue’s bench, next to Illinois’ Orange Krush student section.

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A statement in response to the allegations was sent on behalf of Illinois athletics:

“Late in tonight’s game, Illinois staff was made aware of allegations of inappropriate comments made by members of the Orange Krush toward Purdue players, coaches and fans. We received additional details after the game’s conclusion. We take such allegations seriously, and we will continue gathering information to determine appropriate action. In the meantime, we have been in touch with Purdue to apologize and express our disappointment.”

Illinois defeated Purdue 88-80 in the final regular season game for both teams despite Kaufman-Renn scoring a game-high 29 points.

Kaufman-Renn continued that one incident isn’t indicative of an entire fan base, but expressed a desire for better security measures.

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“I just hope the security, especially at Illinois, can be better,” said Kaufman-Renn, who is Black. “I guess it’s a lot to say because, you know, I told (my brother) after that’s something I would fight with. …

“The fact that my brother can be put in that situation is really unbelievable,” Kaufman-Renn said. “For a league like the Big Ten, they just need to be better about that.”

Sam King covers sports for the Journal & Courier. Email him at sking@jconline.com and follow him on X and Instagram @samueltking.

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Iowa takes a tough Bennett Stirtz lesson in Illinois loss | Leistikow

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Iowa takes a tough Bennett Stirtz lesson in Illinois loss | Leistikow


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IOWA CITY — For the third consecutive game, Mr. Forty Minutes — Iowa basketball’s Bennett Stirtz — found himself in foul trouble.

The Hawkeye senior thought he drew a charge, but officials called him for a block with 11 minutes, 36 seconds to go against No. 16 Illinois. And so, with four fouls, Iowa basketball coach Ben McCollum brought his star point guard to the bench with his team down 14 points.

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After a quick 3, Illinois’ lead was up to 58-41. Not a thing was going right for Iowa.

But instead of wilting, Stirtz’s absence actually gave Iowa a lift.

Not because Iowa is a better team without its star. But because his supporting cast stopped looking for Stirtz to save Iowa — and looked for one another.

That, above all other things, should be the takeaway from what became No. 19 Iowa’s 75-69 loss to No. 16 Illinois on Jan. 11.

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With Stirtz out, the 13,559 fans at Carver-Hawkeye Arena continued to match Iowa’s newfound energy. Tavion Banks soared through the air for a dunk to cut Illinois’ lead to 62-55. Tate Sage delivered a back-door cut and dunk to make it 62-57.

Stirtz waved his arms into the air from the Iowa bench as the noise came to a crescendo.

“We changed from playing with fear to fighting,” Stirtz would say afterward. “I’m proud of the guys for that.”

The Hawkeyes fell to 12-4 overall, 2-3 in the Big Ten Conference with a daunting trip to No. 5 Purdue (15-1, 5-0) on Jan. 14. This was their first home loss and first two-game losing streak of the McCollum era. A quick 21-5 deficit made this an uphill climb throughout.

“You’ve got to come ready,” McCollum said. “Not today.”

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Video: Ben McCollum reacts to Iowa basketball’s loss to Illinois

Ben McCollum meets with media after Iowa basketball’s 75-69 loss to Illinois.

And that’s two straight games in which Iowa was completely flat at the beginning — and then played better without Stirtz for a stretch. The same thing happened in the first half at Minnesota, too, where Stirtz got two fouls and his teammates started playing better and even took the lead.

Sage scored six points in the Stirtz-less run against Illinois; Cooper Koch had eight, including two 3-pointers. What woke up Iowa?

“Cutting,” Illinois coach Brad Underwood said. “I thought Sage was tremendous in his cutting.”

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In the 7:05 that Stirtz missed on Sunday, the Hawkeyes officially outscored Illinois (13-3, 4-1) by an 18-10 margin. He returned with Iowa down, 65-59, and 4:31 left.

“No, he’s not the problem,” McCollum said, answering a question about what fans might be thinking. “It’s that the floor shrinks when he comes off screens, and we’re not doing a good job of getting to the secondary actions after that.”

Let’s pause here for a little extra explanation.

In other words, in McCollum’s eyes, when Stirtz is drawing so much attention, his four teammates on the floor need to make opponents pay.

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Stirtz did have six assists to go with this 12 points against Illinois, but he shot 5-for-17 from the floor, with a lot of those misses being forced attempts — especially late.

Iowa needs to be able to win without Stirtz being at his absolute best. And he certainly wasn’t his best Sunday. Stirtz missed a wide-open layup with 37 seconds that could’ve cut the gap to 71-69.

“Sometimes when you have a player of his caliber, you search for him a little bit too much, and it doesn’t naturally flow,” McCollum said. “And I think we probably searched for him too much, and then when you search for him, then all five guys shrink.”

McCollum elaborated by describing how Illinois puts five elite players on the floor, complimenting how they each make one another better at what they do.

“Those guys benefit from each other, if that makes sense, and so we’re not benefiting from each other,” McCollum said. “… Leverage each other, not just leverage one person. And that’s partly me, too, I’ve got to do a better job of, ‘OK, why is that not working?’ We will. We’re getting there.”

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Stirtz was sick earlier this week at Minnesota, when he went scoreless in the first half but put up 21 points in the second in a 70-67 loss.

He is taking a lot on his shoulders right now, and defenses are giving him that kind of attention, too.

“They were throwing everyone at me,” Stirtz said.

Opponents know what they need to do to stop Iowa right now: Throw the kitchen sink at Stirtz.

“He’s really good,” Underwood said. “You’re not going to take everything away from him. More importantly, it’s making him guard the other end and making him work (on defense). Matchup-hunting was good for us, in this one.”

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There you go, Ben McCollum and Hawkeye fans. Underwood gave you the general script on how to suffocate Iowa. Make Stirtz work hard on both ends of the floor, and maybe he’ll reach here and there on defense and get into foul trouble.

Minnesota capitalized on it. So did Illinois. It’s time for Iowa to adjust.

Now, this was a really good Illinois team. This was hardly an embarrassing Iowa loss.

But, as McCollum voiced in the 66-62 loss at Iowa State a month ago, he isn’t interested in moral victories like two straight comebacks that barely fell short.

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Video: Cooper Koch on why Iowa got off to slow start vs. Illinois

Cooper Koch meets with media after Iowa basketball’s 75-69 loss to Illinois.

The crystalized lesson that the Hawkeyes must take from this loss is to take what they did without Stirtz … and play like that with Stirtz.

Then, this team can be really good, an NCAA Tournament team and maybe a threat to make a run.

Until they figure that out, frustrating losses will continue to add up. The Big Ten is relentless. After the Purdue trip comes a Jan. 17 visit to Indiana. Iowa could be 2-5 in conference play in just six days if it doesn’t pull off an upset.

McCollum did tweak his second-half lineup, looking for a spark. Starting center Cam Manyawu didn’t play a minute after halftime. Sage, a freshman, played all 20 second-half minutes.

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Getting Banks back to full health will help. McCollum said the forward (who was Iowa’s best player against Illinois with 14 points, seven rebounds and five assists) lost 8-10 pounds over the past few days with an illness. Banks was replaced by Alvaro Folgueiras (eight points, eight rebounds) in the starting lineup.

Iowa is only 25% of the way through the conference season. But it needs to learn these lessons quickly and not let them linger, like they did in both games this past week.

“We’ve got to change something, because something’s not working,” Stirtz said. “It’s been a couple games where we haven’t started out with a lot of energy. It’s definitely going to need to change, and we’re going to need to it for the full 40.”

Hawkeyes columnist Chad Leistikow has served for 31 years with The Des Moines Register and USA TODAY Sports Network. Chad is the 2023 INA Iowa Sports Columnist of the Year and NSMA Co-Sportswriter of the Year in Iowa. Join Chad’s text-message group at HawkCentral.com/HawkeyesTexts. Follow @ChadLeistikow on X.



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Where to watch Iowa basketball vs. Illinois today: TV channel, time

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Where to watch Iowa basketball vs. Illinois today: TV channel, time


Iowa basketball (12-3, 2-2 Big Ten) welcomes in No. 16 Illinois (12-3, 3-1 Big Ten) to Carver-Hawkeye Arena in a top-25 conference tilt.

The 19th-ranked Hawkeyes are looking to get the taste of a frustrating road loss at Minnesota out of their mouths. Iowa trailed by as many as 14, but rallied back to take the lead in the game’s final two minutes. The Golden Gophers hit a go-ahead 3-pointer from Jaylen Crocker-Johnson and then watched as a series of potential game-tying Iowa threes wouldn’t drop in a final, frantic sequence from Williams Arena.

Illinois enters winners of four straight and six of their past seven. The Illini rolled past Rutgers on Thursday, 81-55.

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Watch Iowa vs. Illinois

Iowa owns a 57-24 all-time record against Illinois in Iowa City, though the Illini have owned the series of late. Illinois has won four straight over Iowa and nine of the past 10. That stretch of success from the Illini comes on the heels of a five-game Iowa win streak in the series from 2018-20.

As tipoff approaches, here’s how and when Hawkeye fans can watch Iowa basketball vs. Illinois:

How to watch Iowa basketball vs. Illinois

TV: Fox

Tipoff Time: 11 a.m.

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Iowa battles Illinois on Fox in its “Gold Out” game from Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Jason Benetti (play-by-play) will be joined by Steve Smith (color).

How to stream Iowa basketball vs. Illinois

Hawkeye fans can stream Iowa basketball vs. Illinois with Fubo, which offers a free trial to first-time subscribers.

Contact/Follow us @HawkeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Iowa news, notes and opinions. Follow Josh on X: @JoshOnHawks



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Ex-husband charged in Tepe murders, held in Illinois jail

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Ex-husband charged in Tepe murders, held in Illinois jail


The ex-husband of a woman found shot to death with her current husband Dec. 30 in Columbus’ Weinland Park neighborhood has been charged with murder in the deaths.

Michael David McKee, 39, of Chicago, faces two counts of murder, according to Franklin County Municipal Court documents.

According to online court records, a warrant was issued Jan. 10 for McKee’s arrest. Winnebago County (Illinois) Sheriff’s Office records indicate he was booked into jail there shortly before noon local time. He will remain there until authorities extradite him back to Franklin County.

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Winnebago County court records show McKee is scheduled for a hearing there on Jan. 12, likely an extradition hearing to begin the process of his return to Ohio.

Monique Tepe, 39, and Spencer Tepe, 37, died Dec. 30, just after their five-year wedding anniversary, after being found shot inside their home on the 1400 block of North 4th Street in Weinland Park. The couple’s two young children, both under the age of 5, were found physically unhurt inside the home.

Columbus homicide detectives identified McKee through neighborhood video surveillance, police alleged in court documents. They tracked the suspect “to a vehicle which arrived just prior to the homicides and left shortly after.” They found the vehicle in Rockford, Illinois, and found evidence that McKee had the vehicle before and after the killings.

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Columbus police have not publicly identified a potential motive in the couple’s deaths.

In a statement released after McKee’s arrest, the Tepe family thanked Columbus police for their “tireless” work to find the suspect.

“Nothing can undo the devastating loss of two lives taken far too soon,” the Tepe family said. “We thank the community for the continued support, prayers and compassion shown throughout this tragedy. As the case proceeds, we trust the justice system to hold the person responsible fully accountable.

“Monique and Spencer remain at the center of our hearts, and we carry forward their love as we surround and protect the two children they leave behind,” the statement said. “We will continue to honor their lives and the light they brought into this world.”

McKee and Monique married in 2015, according to Franklin County Domestic Court records. She filed for divorce in May 2017 with the formal divorce decree being issued about a month later. Court filings indicate the divorce was amicable. Monique did not share any children with McKee, whom the divorce filings identify as living in Virginia at the time.

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Around 9 a.m. on Dec. 30, coworkers of Spencer’s from the dentistry office where he worked in Athens called Columbus police after Spencer did not show up for work and no one could reach Spencer or Monique by phone.

An officer went to do a well-being check but went to a home on Summit Street instead of the Tepe home, according to Columbus police body camera video. About 40 minutes after that check, friends of the Tepes found them dead in their home.

Police have focused the investigation on the window of time between 2 a.m. and 5 a.m. Dec. 30, which is when they believe the couple was killed. On Jan. 5, detectives released video from a security camera showing a person walking in an alley near the Tepes’ home during that time frame, calling the person a “person of interest.”

That person is now believed to be McKee.

Medical licensure databases show McKee has active licenses in both Illinois and California. He is identified as working as a vascular surgeon in a practice in the Rockford area, the same area where his vehicle was found.

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McKee went to medical school at Ohio State University and has family in the Zanesville area, according to publicly available information.

A public visitation for the Tepes will be held from noon to 3 p.m. Jan. 11 at the Schoedinger Northwest funeral home on Zollinger Road in Upper Arlington. An additional gathering for a celebration of life will occur from 3:30 to 6 p.m. at Due Amici in Columbus.

Reporter Bethany Bruner can be reached at bbruner@dispatch.com.



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