Northwestern
Illinois
Men's Basketball Hangs With No. 11 Illinois, 63-49
1/17/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 17, 2001
EVANSTON, Ill. - Brian Cook scored the last eight points in a 13-2 second-half run and No. 11 Illinois finally pulled away and beat pesky Northwestern 63-49 Wednesday night.
Northwestern trailed just 44-43 with 10:39 left after Aaron Jennings scored consecutive baskets for the Wildcats.
However, Robert Archibald hit an inside basket coming out of a timeout, then converted a conventional 3-point play for a six-point Illini lead.
Then it was Cook's turn.
He muscled in a basket on the second try, picked up a loose ball and scored again, followed in another miss, and capped it by turning a nifty pass from Frank Williams into another basket to make the score 57-45 with just over four minutes left.
Illinois dominated the boards 42-18, snaring 18 off the offensive glass alone as Cook grabbed 11 rebounds.
Williams led the Illini (14-4, 4-1) with 16 points and the 6-foot-10 Cook had 10 of his 14 points in the second half.
Ben Johnson had 11 points for Northwestern (7-10, 0-5), while freshman guard Jitim Young added 10 for his first double-figure night in a Big Ten game.
Cory Bradford started a a 13-0 first-half run for the Illini with a reverse layup and capped it with a 3-pointer -- extending his NCAA record to 82 straight games with a trey -- as Illinois opened a 10-point lead late in the first half. The surge also included two tough jumpers in traffic by Williams and a dunk and follow by Cook.
The Illini initially had problems with Northwestern's patient pass-and-cut offense. As a result, Northwestern -- despite shooting just 36 percent -- stayed close with its gritty play and trailed just 32-25 at halftime.
