N Dakota St beats W Illinois 80-69 behind Miller's 26 points

Jan 27, 2018, 09:56 pm

FARGO, N.D. -- Paul Miller scored 26 points on 11-of-18 shooting, including his 1,500th career point, and North Dakota State dominated inside and pulled away in the second half to beat Western Illinois 80-69 on Saturday.

Cameron Hunter scored 13 points and Tyson Ward had 10 for the Bison (12-10, 4-3 Summit League), who outscored the Leathernecks 32-16 in the paint and trailed by as many as 12 points in the first half.

Miller, who has scored 20 or more points in eight straight games, is the 12th NDSU player to reach 1,500 career points.

Jared Samuelson's 3 put NDSU up for good, 34-32, and the Bison outscored Western Illinois 29-15 in the final 11:30 to take a 42-40 halftime lead.

Spencer Eliason's layup sparked an 8-1 run for a 54-47 Bison lead and NDSU pulled ahead 63-53 with 10:16 left to play after Deng Geu scored seven points in a 9-2 run. Western Illinois closed to 66-59 on Dalan Ancrum's back-to-back 3s, but Hunter's 4-point play made it 70-59 and the Bison won going away.

Kobe Webster scored 24 points and Ancrum had 15 for the Leathernecks (10-10, 1-6), who have lost three straight.