Illinois 57, IUPU-Fort Wayne 55: Rayvonte Rice scored a game-high 17 points and made a huge steal in the game's final seconds as the Fighting Illini survived a scare from the visiting Mastodons.

Rice, who scored the game-winning basket in Illinois' 61-59 victory over UNLV last time out, stripped the ball from IUPU-Fort Wayne guard Pierre Bland with a two-point lead and seven seconds left, and then sealed the contest with a pair of free throws. Tracy Abrams chipped in with 15 for Illinois (7-0).

Luis Jacobo scored 15 points for the Mastodons (6-3), who had their five-game winning streak snapped. Bland had 12 points and Steve Forbes added 11 for IUPU-Fort Wayne, which has three losses on the season by a combined four points.

There were 17 lead changes and six ties in the game and Fort Wayne held its last lead, 53-52, with 2:58 to play. But the Mastodons crippled their upset hopes, going 2-for-13 from the free-throw line including four huge misses down the stretch.

Illinois led 12-5 early, but the Mastodons finished the first half on a 12-3 run to take a surprising 35-27 lead at the break. But they couldn't finish things off, falling to 0-19 all-time against Big Ten schools.

GAME NOTEBOOK: The Fighting Illini are 15-0 in November under coach John Groce. ...Fort Wayne opened the season with an 81-80 setback at Dayton. ...Illinois held its second straight opponent to 20 points in the second half.