CHAMPAIGN — Ticket sales for Monday’s NIT game went better than expected Thursday.
About 6,400 tickets were sold, including 4,200 reserved seats in A and B sections. A Section is sold out.
Top-seeded Illinois hosts fourth-seeded Kent State in the second round at 7 p.m. Monday (ESPNU).
There are plenty of seats available in B and C sections. Those are general admission and go for $15. UI students can purchase $10 tickets with a student I.D.
Tickets can be purchased in person at the Assembly Hall box office, by phone (217-333-3470) or online (www.fightingillini.com).

Baseball falls. The Illini erased late-inning deficits twice before falling to Bucknell 8-7 Thursday in the first game of their spring trip in Winter Haven, Fla.
Willie Argo was 3 for 3 with four runs scored for the Illini (3-8). The Illini trailed 5-1 before rallying to tie it at 6, fell behind 7-6, then tied it at 7 in the sixth inning. But Bucknell pushed across the winning run in the bottom of the eighth.
“We got in a hole but found a way to scrap, get back in the game and tie it up,” UI coach Dan Hartleb said. “The bullpen did a very good job today and gave us an opportunity to win, but we did not play a complete game. We were not very good defensively and did not execute offensively.”

Johnson, former Illini in spotlight. Former Illini Jimmy Kennedy (132 pounds) and Mike Poeta (163) will compete today for the Big Ten team in the Big Ten vs. Big 12 Challenge in freestyle wrestling in conjunction with the NCAA Championships in Omaha, Neb.
The Big Ten team will be coached by former UI coach Mark Johnson. The event features matches in seven international weight classes. The competitors are former collegiate wrestlers who are pursuing Olympic spots in freestyle.