MEN'S BASKETBALL Unbeaten Marquette rolls; Iowa stops E. Washington

Northern Illinois slipped past Illinois Chicago, 54-53.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
MILWAUKEE -- Travis Diener and Terry Sanders scored 13 points each, and No. 24 Marquette stayed undefeated by beating Grambling 71-55 Friday night.
Marquette (6-0) also got 12 points from Scott Merritt and 10 from Karon Bradley.
Grambling (1-4) was led by Brion Rush's 24 points. Paul Haynes added 13 and Larry Haygood had 11.
Diener hit a 3-pointer to start the second half, putting Marquette ahead by 21. The Tigers responded with nine straight points to pull within 45-33, but got no closer.
Grambling managed only eight points in the final 10 minutes, five coming in the final minute.
Big Ten
IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Pierre Pierce scored 17 points and Greg Brunner added 15 to lead Iowa to a 70-54 victory over Eastern Washington in the first round of the Hawkeye Challenge on Friday night.
The Hawkeyes (5-0) used their size advantage and a stingy defense to advance to the championship game Saturday against Northern Illinois. Iowa has won its tournament 20 times in 21 years.
Brunner and Jared Reiner combined for 21 rebounds in leading Iowa to a 43-24 advantage on the boards. The Hawkeyes came up with a season-high 13 steals, forced 22 turnovers and blocked five shots.
Horizon League
IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Marcus Smallwood scored 13 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead Northern Illinois to a 54-53 victory over Illinois-Chicago in the first round of the Hawkeye Challenge tournament here Friday.
The Huskies (3-1) shot 56 percent in the second half and Smallwood accounted for 10 second-half points in helping Northern Illinois erase a six-point halftime deficit. The Huskies advance to Saturday's title game against the winner of the second game between Eastern Washington and host Iowa.