Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Illinois
Men's Basketball Falls To No. 16 Illinois, 56-41
2/23/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 23, 2002
By JASON STRAIT
Associated Press Writer
EVANSTON, Ill. - It wasn't pretty, except from where Bill Self was standing.
No. 16 Illinois turned in one of its best defensive efforts of the season in a 56-41 victory over Northwestern on Saturday as the Wildcats set season-lows for points, field goals and shooting percentage.
"We did a great job against them defensively. We got them down to 10 seconds (on the shot clock) on every possession and we didn't break down," Self said.
Instead, it was Northwestern's shooting that was broken.
From the opening minutes, nothing was falling for the Wildcats - even when they had open looks - as they missed shots from all over the court.
Northwestern shot 29 percent from the field, including 0-for-17 from 3-point range, and was 13-of-30 from the free throw line. The Wildcats scored 13 points in the first half on 18 percent shooting, making just four field goals.
"I don't think I've ever seen a team (of mine) not make a 3-pointer," Northwestern coach Bill Carmody said. "I don't think it was jitters or anything like that. They always had a hand in our face."
Carmody was right, he hasn't.
During his 18 seasons as an assistant and head coach at Princeton and his two years at Northwestern, this was the first time a team coached by Carmody failed to make at least one 3-pointer.
The Illini (21-7, 9-5 Big Ten) have won six in a row and likely ended any chance Northwestern (16-10, 7-7) had of earning an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. It was the first home loss for the Wildcats in six games.
Illinois was led by Brian Cook's 12 points and nine rebounds, but it was the defensive effort that players wanted to talk about.
"Guys have more pride in our defense. We're playing harder on defense and that's what is helping us win," Frank Williams said.
Williams, third in the Big Ten in scoring at 16.3 points per game, had seven points on 2-of-12 shooting and grabbed eight rebounds.
Illinois, who leads the Big Ten in scoring at 78 points per game, was also held to a season-low in scoring by one point in a game that got sloppy down the stretch. Illinois led by as many as 28 points in the second half, but allowed Northwestern to cut into its lead while committing 21 turnovers.
The season low in scoring wasn't a surprise. Northwestern's spread offense is allowing a conference-low 58 points per game.
"You have to go away from what you usually do to defend Northwestern. We did a good job of adjusting to their style," Illinois center Robert Archibald said.
Cory Bradford added 12 points for the Illini on 5-of-15 shooting, and Archibald had seven points, 13 rebounds and three blocks.
Jitim Young led Northwestern with 11 points on 4-of-13 shooting, while Tavaras Hardy had nine points and 11 rebounds, but was 3-of-13 from the free throw line.
Illinois shot 43 percent for the game and outrebounded the Wildcats 48-29.
"We had a lot of problems and I think that was mostly because of their defense," Carmody said. "They dominated us."
The game's slow pace frustrated Illinois early. The Illini were held to one field goal, a driving layup by Williams, over the opening 5:45.
Leading by two, the Illini went on a 17-2 run behind six straight points from reserve forward Lucas Johnson to take a 25-8 lead.
Illinois then scored the final eight points of the half, the last of which came at the buzzer when Williams flipped the ball behind his back to an open Bradford who hit a long 3-pointer for a 35-13 lead.
