BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The No. 13 Illinois Wesleyan University men's basketball team got back in the win column with a convincing win over Millikin University Saturday evening, Feb. 15, inside the Shirk Center. The Titans took down the Big Blue, 96-60 on Senior Day to improve to 19-4 overall and 11-3 in conference play. MU's record dove to 11-13 on the season and 5-10 in College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin games.

Senior Nick Roper (St. Louis, Mo.-MICDS) led the Titans with 20 points on 7-of-14 shooting, while sophomore Mason Funk (Normal, Ill.-University High) and senior Marko Andreson (Park Ridge, Ill.-Maine South) added 15 and 13 points, respectively. Funk and senior Harrison Wilmsen (St. Louis, Mo.-Priory) tied for the team lead with seven rebounds, while Funk notched a game-high six steals.

Illinois Wesleyan's offense connected on 37-of-66 field goal attempts (56.1 percent) and went 9-for-25 from three-point range (36 percent). Six different Titans hit three-pointers in the win, with Funk nailing three and senior Trey Bazzell (Fairbury, Ill.-Prairie Central) knocking down two. The Green and White finished 13-for-14 at the free throw line, while the Big blue went 24-for-28 at the charity stripe. MU was held to just 15 made field goals as Millikin shot 31.3 percent (15-for-48) overall and connected on 6-of-16 three-point tries.

IWU's dominance was evident up and down the stat sheet as the Green and White held leads in points off turnovers (28-11), points in the paint (54-14), second-chance scoring (14-2), and bench scoring (49-25). MU mounted an 18-16 lead in fastbreak scoring. 

The Titans got off to a good start as Wilmsen hit a putback and Roper followed with a four-point spurt to drive IWU ahead, 6-0, two and a half minutes in.

Freshman Josh Fridman (Northbrook, Ill.-Glenbard North) stepped back off a screen and hit a triple late in the shot clock and Funk added a swipe and score to give the Green and White an 11-0 lead into a Millikin timeout with 16:45 on the clock.

IWU stretched the lead to 16-0 before Millikin registered its first bucket of the game around the 15:25 mark. 

Senior Shane Miller (Springfield, Ill.-Springfield) provided a spark off the bench, dishing a slick pass to Anderson for a bucket. The Springfield, Ill. native came right back the next time down the floor, this time calling his own number, as he glided through the lane and hit a layup.

Funk swiped the ball on Millikin's next possession and finished a roll at the rim on an assist by Fridman to extend Illinois Wesleyan's lead, 28-10, into MU's second timeout of the evening with 9:25 to play in the half.

Bazzell sandwiched an Anderson tip-in, first finishing a layup on the assist from Funk and later hitting a triple from Anderson's assist to push IWU ahead, 35-15. 

The Green and White maintained a 20-point cushion for the remainder of the half, going to break with a 44-24 advantage.

Illinois Wesleyan bolstered its lead to as many as 38 over the final 20 minutes, with Bazzell serving up an exclamation point with a dunk with five and a half minutes left to play to put IWU up, 86-48. 

Late three-pointers finished off the win as the Titans sent their six seniors off with a 96-60 victory.

Illinois Wesleyan is back at home this Wednesday, Feb. 19, for its final game of the regular season inside the Shirk Center. Tipoff against North Park University is scheduled for 7 p.m.