GAME NOTES: Illinois again shoots for its first true road win of the season on Sunday, as the team challenges the Nebraska Cornhuskers in Big Ten Conference action at Pinnacle Bank Arena.

The Fighting Illini, who are a perfect 8-0 at home, have come up empty in three true road tests, although they are 3-2 in neutral-site efforts. Earlier this week, Illinois snapped a two-game slide by upsetting 11th-ranked Maryland at home, 64-57.

As for the Cornhuskers, they too are trying to win back-to-back outings at this point, after snapping a two-game slide with a 65-49 romp over Rutgers at home on Thursday night. Nebraska, which is 6-3 in Lincoln, now has a mark of 1-2 in conference.

Illinois leads the all-time series by a count of 11-4, dating back to the very first meeting in 1921. Last season, the teams split a pair, with the Illini capturing a 67-58 victory at home on Feb. 12, followed two weeks later by a 60-49 triumph for Nebraska at home.

On Wednesday at State Farm Center, Illinois shot only 29.0 percent from the field in the first half, but bounced back with 45.8 percent accuracy following the break and also knocked down 13-of-15 at the free-throw line over the final 20 minutes in order to claim the victory. Malcolm Hill converted half of his 18 field goal attempts and was 4-of-7 behind the 3-point line, en route to a game-high 28 points. Nnanna Egwu came up a rebound shy of a double-double as he tallied 11 points and four blocked shots, followed by Jaylon Tate with 10 points.

With the recent announcement that Rayvonte Rice (17.2 ppg) is now out of action with a broken left hand, that leaves Hill as the active leading scorer for the Illini with his 14.0 ppg. Not only has Illinois lost its top scoring threat, Rice also cooked up a team-best 6.9 rpg and was first with 27 steals, which means he has some huge shoes that need to be filled. Luckily, the Illini rely quite a bit on their defense to carry them, allowing just 63.6 ppg on 39.8 percent shooting from the field.

Despite allowing a mere eight field goals in the first half, the Huskers still somehow trailed by as many as seven to Rutgers in the period before assuming a 26-23 lead at the break and then running off to the double-digit home win. Terran Petteway scored 20 points and handed out five assists for the hosts, followed by Shavon Shields with 11 points and six rebounds for a squad that forced 19 turnovers and limited the visitors to just 2-of-13 beyond the arc.

Petteway, one of four players to have started every game for the Huskers, paces the offense with 19.0 ppg and is also first on the unit with 40 assists as he tries to keep teammates involved in the action. Shields accounts for another 17.5 ppg, which means the duo combines for a huge portion of the program's 66.7 ppg. With 6.8 rpg, Shields is a key presence in the paint, but for some reason he continues to leak out to the perimeter at the offensive end of the floor where he has converted a mere 9-of-38 (.237) on 3-point attempts.

The loss of Rice is going to be tough to overcome for the Illini and while they were able to get to the win versus Maryland, the chances of them remaining consistent without a key contributor may prove difficult.