Mar 6, 2016 3 min read

Shep Garner scored 22 points and Penn State hung on through two overtime periods to beat Illinois 86-79 Sunday.

Brandon Taylor added 21 points and 11 rebounds for the Nittany Lions (16-15, 7-11 Big Ten), who secured a first-round bye in the Big Ten tournament for the first time in program history. The win snapped a two-game losing streak and marked Penn State’s most conference wins under head coach Patrick Chambers.

Josh Reaves added 13 points and Donovon Jack chipped in 10 for Penn State.

Malcolm Hill scored 24 of his 39 points in the second half and added 13 rebounds for the Fighting Illini (13-18, 5-13), who faced a 10-point deficit with just over 12 minutes to play. Illinois lost its second game in a row and will play in the opening round of the conference tournament on Wednesday.

Khalid Lewis added 10 points for the Illini who outscored Penn State 22-12 over the final 8:49 of regulation. But Penn State mounted a 19-9 run that included 9-of-10 shooting from the line to close out the game.

Penn State looked like it would keep Illinois down with steady defense early on.

The Nittany Lions led for 16:13 of the first half including the first 9:14 but never by more than six points. But a shootout ensued down the stretch as the teams swapped the lead six times before Garner nailed his third 3-pointer and converted a soaring layup in the closing minute to give Penn State a 37-36 halftime lead.

Garner finished the first half with 11 points and made three of Penn State’s five 3-pointers.

Reaves, who set a career high in points, started hot on the backend, too. He scored six of his eight first-half points and added two blocks in the first 5:30. But his minutes were cut after drawing his second foul with 5:13 left.

Indiana 80, Maryland 62: Kevin “Yogi” Ferrell had 17 points in his final home game while Troy Williams matched his career high with 23 points to lead No. 12 Indiana past No. 14 Maryland 80-62 on Sunday.

With the win, the Big Ten champion Hoosiers (25-6, 15-3) finished 17-0 at home and completed their first perfect season at Assembly Hall since 2006-07. Melo Trimble had 17 points and Robert Carter added 14 for Maryland (24-7, 12-6).

Monmouth 76, Fairfield 63: Micah Seaborn scored 17 points and Justin Robinson added 15 points and nine rebounds and top-seeded Monmouth beat fifth-seed Fairfield 76-63 and advanced to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament championship game.

Northwestern 65, Nebraska 54: Alex Olah scored 19 points and grabbed eight rebounds as Northwestern beat Nebraska 65-54 in their regular-season finale.