Nebraska 67, Illinois 58: Shavon Shields scored a career-high 33 points as the Cornhuskers defeated the Illini to improve to a Big Ten-best 11-1 at home.

Shields went 8-of-12 from the floor and made all 15 of his free throws for Nebraska (13-10, 5-6 Big Ten), which has won four consecutive home games during league play for the first time since Jan. 13-Feb. 13, 1999 as a member of the Big 12. Terran Petteway added 16 points as the Cornhuskers moved into a three-way tie for sixth place in the conference.

Rayvonte Rice finished with 23 points and three steals to pace Illinois (14-11, 3-9), which lost for the ninth time in 10 games. Nnanna Egwu collected 12 rebounds as the Illini fell into the Big Ten cellar.

Shields and Petteway combined for 24 of Nebraska’s 31 first-half points as the Cornhuskers battled back from an early eight-point deficit and took a one-point lead into the break on a layup by Ray Gallegos as time expired. Illinois regained a six-point advantage but went without a field goal for over seven minutes as Nebraska used a 10-0 surge to jump back in front.

The Illini kept it close with five free throws during their field-goal drought and pulled within 49-47 on a reverse layup by Rice with 8:19 left, but Walter Pitchford drained a long 3-pointer and Shields scored the Cornhuskers’ next nine points. Nebraska hit 10 of its final 12 free throws and was not threatened thereafter as Illinois endured another field-goal drought of nearly six minutes before it added a couple of baskets over the final 1:01.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Nebraska went 24-of-27 from the foul line. … Illinois, which ended an eight-game losing streak Sunday at Penn State, hasn’t posted road wins in back-to-back games since Feb. 12-15, 2009. … Shields’ previous career high was 29 points against Penn State as a freshman last season.