Illinois squeaks past Wichita State

SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, Texas -- Warren Carter's layup as time expired gave No. 15 Illinois a 55-54 win over Wichita State on Friday in the semifinals of the South Padre Island Invitational.

Carter, who was open near the basket, scored the last of his eight points after receiving an inbounds pass from Rich McBride with 2 seconds remaining. It was Illinois' second lead of the second half, after James Augustine's jumper with 4:41 left briefly put Illinois ahead 51-50.

Illinois (4-0) advanced to today's championship against Rutgers, which beat Kent State 55-52 in Friday's other semifinal.

Augustine led Illinois with 14 points and Shaun Pruitt added 10.

Paul Miller scored 18 points for Wichita State (3-1), which led for most of the second half after trailing by as many as 11 in the first. Kyle Wilson's layup with 1:24 left gave Wichita State a 54-53 lead before Carter's winning shot.

Wilson had 10 points for the Shockers, who shot just 35 percent from the field in the second half.

-- AP