Junior guard Andrew White III scored all of his 21 points in the final 25 minutes and grabbed a career-high 13 rebounds to pace Nebraska to a 78-67 Big Ten victory over Illinois on Saturday afternoon at the State Farm Center.

White's first points came as part of Nebraska's important 17-2 spurt late in the first half, then he delivered key blows in the second half as the Huskers (11-8, 3-3) used runs of 10-0 and 7-0 to repel surges by the Illini and win their third game in a row.

Huskers freshman point guard Glynn Watson -- who grew up watching his brother, Demetri McCamey, run the point at Illinois -- tied his career high with 17 points. Junior guard Tai Webster added 16 points off the bench and senior forward Shavon Shields contributed 14.

Junior guard Malcolm Hill paced Illinois (9-9, 1-4) with 17 points, seven assists and four rebounds. Hill, LSU's Ben Simmons and Florida A&M's Malcolm Bernard are the only players in the country who lead their teams in points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks.

Illinois, which had six days to gain steam from its 14-point win over No. 20 Purdue on Jan. 10, took a 21-18 lead on freshman forward Michael Finke's 3-pointer with 8:35 left in the first half.

The Illini were content to shoot errant 3-pointers -- they tried 20 in the first half alone and finished 11 of 37 from beyond the arc -- and Nebraska kept slashing to the basket, pulling off a 17-2 run that turned the game's tone.

Illinois junior guard Kendrick Nunn was held out of the starting lineup, but he entered early and finished with 15 points in 35 minutes.