Ben Humrichous scored a season-high 21 points, Thornton grad Morez Johnson Jr. had a career-high 20 points with 11 rebounds and No. 13 Illinois beat Penn State 91-52 on Wednesday night at State Farm Center in Champaign for its fifth consecutive victory.

Tre White also had 20 points to help Illinois (12-3, 4-1 Big Ten) win with scoring leader Kasparas Jakucionis sidelined by a bruised forearm.

Penn State star Ace Baldwin Jr. aggravated a back injury early in the first half and didn’t play in the second half. He didn’t score, missing all six of his shots.

Nick Kern Jr. had 13 points for the Nittany Lions (12-4, 2-3). Zach Hicks added 11.

Takeaways

Illinois: After sweeping No. 9 Oregon and Washington on a West Coast trip, Illinois was tasked with beating nemesis Penn State without Jakucionis, whose absence was announced just before the game. Humrichous and Johnson made up for the loss of Jakucionis.

Penn State: The Nittany Lions came into the night as the 10th-highest scoring team in the nation, averaging 86.8 points. They had scored a program record 80-plus points in six straight games. Penn State shot 31% against Illinois.

Key moment

A 21-2 Illini run in the first half gave them a 26-13 lead. Penn State missed nine straight shots during the stretch, going 7:56 without a field goal.

Up next

Illinois: Hosts Southern California on Saturday.

Penn State: Hosts No. 9 Oregon on Sunday.

The Indiana women’s basketball team beat Northwestern 68-64 at Welsh-Ryan Arena on Wednesday night thanks to a go-ahead 3-pointer from Shay Ciezki with 1:05 to go. 

It was the Hoosiers (11-4; 3-1 Big Ten) sixth straight win over their Big Ten rival. 

Ciezki scored 13 of her game-high 20 points in the fourth quarter and scored six straight at one point with the Wildcats looking to make a comeback. She was the only IU player with a made field goal in the first five minutes of the fourth. 

The Penn State transfer went 3 of 4 from the field (2 of 2 from 3-point range) and 5 of 5 from the free-throw line down the stretch. She’s made 32 straight free-throw attempts going back to the team’s Nov. 24 loss to Baylor. 

Indiana struggled pulling away while shooting just 39.3% from the field. The Hoosiers led 20-11 at the start of the second quarter, but couldn’t build on the lead thanks to multiple extended scoring droughts. 

Northwestern kept it a two-possession game throughout the second half while getting a big night from reserve guard Melannie Daley. She led the team in scoring with 17 points and season-high six assists off the bench. 

It was her seventh straight game in double-digits. 

Indiana goes back on the road for a game against No. 23 Iowa on Sunday at 3 p.m. before returning home on for a game against Illinois on Jan. 16.

Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.

Three Big 12 Conference basketball teams have each won its first three games in the league thus far.

Not coincidentally, all three are riding lengthy winning streaks, with one of those squads drastically turning its season around after a shaky start.

Here, now, are the updated Big 12 basketball power rankings, with games through Jan. 8:

Cyclones are definitely rolling, having won 10 straight ballgames. That was punctuated by back-to-back blowout wins at Hilton Coliseum against Baylor and Utah, the latter on Tuesday.

Next Up: At Texas Tech, Saturday; Vs. Kansas, Wednesday.

The Cougars are also coming off decisive back-to-back wins at the Fertitta Center, having now won seven straight. While they left no doubt last Saturday in a 31-point win against BYU, the Cougars had to shake off a pesky TCU squad in the second half to eventually prevail by 19. 

Next Up: At Kansas State, Saturday; Vs. West Virginia, Wednesday.

What a difference conference play has made for the Wildcats, whose postseason outlook appears much brighter. Especially after going on the road and disposing of two solid squads in Cincinnati and West Virginia, as Arizona currently rides a five-game win streak.

Next Up: Vs. UCF, Saturday; Vs. Baylor, Tuesday.

The Jayhawks avoided what would have been an unfathomable 0-2 start in conference play at Allen Fieldhouse, pulling away in the second half Wednesday to defeat Arizona State. Kansas trailed by six at the break before holding the Sun Devils to just 13 second-half points.

Next Up: At Cincinnati, Saturday; At Iowa State, Wednesday.

Definitely a huge win by the Red Raiders on Tuesday, following up a rout at Utah with a hard-fought 72-67 win at BYU. Elijah Hawkins, Darrion Williams and Chance McMillian combined to go 19-of-32 from the field and 10-of-19 from 3-point range.

Next Up: Vs. Iowa State, Saturday; At Kansas State, Tuesday.

A tenacious win for the Knights on Wednesday, rallying from a 74-71 deficit in the final three minutes against Colorado. UCF held the Buffaloes scoreless in that span while ending the game with a 4-0 run, all on free throws – the latter from Deebo Coleman with 35 seconds left for a 75-74 victory.

Next Up: At Arizona, Saturday; At Arizona State, Tuesday.

A nice bounce-back win by the Bears on Tuesday after being blown out over the weekend at Iowa State. Baylor manhandled Cincinnati, 68-48, holding the Bearcats to nearly identical shooting percentages from field goal (34.7 percent) and 3-point range (34.8).

Next Up: At Arizona State, Saturday; At Arizona, Tuesday.

The Mountaineers couldn’t sustain the momentum of an early fast start in the conference, falling at home on Tuesday to Arizona. They’ll try to bounce back with a weekend visit to the Rockies.

Next Up: At Colorado, Sunday; At Houston, Wednesday.

Lingering memories of a blowout loss at Houston last weekend carried over into a home game Tuesday, as the Cougars fell short to Texas Tech. It may still be too early for a must-win, but a road win this weekend at TCU can definitely help get BYU back on track.

Next Up: At TCU, Saturday; Vs. Oklahoma State, Tuesday.

A tale of two halves for the Sun Devils Wednesday night in Kansas. In the first half, Arizona State more than held its own. But after halftime, the Sun Devils made only five field goals, and were 1-of-11 from beyond the arc.

Next Up: Vs. Baylor, Saturday; Vs. UCF, Tuesday.

Horned Frogs overcame a slow start and hung tough with Houston early in the second half. But the Cougars’ powerful defense and their ability to make key shots proved to be too much. TCU returns home this weekend for an interesting test against BYU.

Next Up: Vs. BYU, Saturday; Vs. Utah, Wednesday.

Bearcats going through a tough stretch. The good news is they’re back at home this weekend. The bad news is they’re facing Kansas. Can Cincy rise to the occasion?

Next Up: Vs. Kansas, Saturday; At Colorado, Wednesday.

A solid win for the Cowboys on Tuesday as they rolled past Kansas State, building a 19-point lead at the break. Also a big night for Abou Ousmane, who led the way with 27 points on 11-of-15 shooting from the field. He also went a perfect 4-of-4 from the line.

Next Up: At Utah, Saturday; At BYU, Tuesday.

The Wildcats actually shot 51 percent from the field and 75 percent from the line in Tuesday’s loss at Oklahoma State. But they turned the ball over 19 times, and the Cowboys scored 31 points off those turnovers. OSU also had 31 points from players off the bench compared to just 14 for the Wildcats.

Next Up: Vs. Houston, Saturday; Vs. Texas Tech, Tuesday.

The Buffaloes let one slip away on Wednesday, dropping a narrow one-point game on the road at UCF. They’ll be thinking about that for three straight days before finally getting a chance to get it out of their system.

Next Up: Vs. West Virginia, Sunday; Vs. Cincinnati, Wednesday.

A bright spot for the Utes in their loss to Iowa State on Tuesday was Gabe Madsen scoring 20 points. He also made four 3-pointers while recording four assists and two steals.

Next Up: Vs. Oklahoma State, Saturday; At TCU, Wednesday.