Saturday, January 29
Evanston, Ill.
3:30 p.m.
Northwestern
9-10,2-8Big Ten
56
vs
59
#24 Illinois
15-5,8-2Big Ten
1
2
F
Illinois
24
35
59
Northwestern
19
37
56
No. 24 Illinois Takes 59-56 Battle vs. 'Cats
1/29/2022 7:10:00 PM | Men's Basketball
EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) — Kofi Cockburn returned from a concussion and scored 22 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead No. 24 Illinois to a 59-56 victory over Northwestern on Saturday.
Cockburn was effective, hitting 10 of 17 shots, but his teammates combined for a dismal 12-of-34 shooting clip, allowing the Wildcats to hang around despite going 20 of 56 from the field and 6 of 18 from 3-point range.
Northwestern took its first lead on a 3 from Ty Berry with 14:35 to play. The Wildcats worked their way to a six-point cushion on Elyjah Williams' three-point play with 8:09 to play, but Illinois (15-5, 8-2 Big Ten) turned to Cockburn down the stretch and he scored 14 points in the second half, going 6 of 9 from the field.
Cockburn tied the game with a short bucket with 2:25 to play. After a stop, he went up for another layup and missed, but Illini guard Da'Monte Williams' follow dunk gave Illinois a 55-53 lead with 1:34 to play.
The Wildcats made just 4 of their last 11 shots, and Illinois went 4 of 6 at the free throw line to close out the game.
No other Illinois players reached double figures, as Alfonso Plummer went 2 of 6 to finish with nine points.
Cockburn was effective, hitting 10 of 17 shots, but his teammates combined for a dismal 12-of-34 shooting clip, allowing the Wildcats to hang around despite going 20 of 56 from the field and 6 of 18 from 3-point range.
Northwestern took its first lead on a 3 from Ty Berry with 14:35 to play. The Wildcats worked their way to a six-point cushion on Elyjah Williams' three-point play with 8:09 to play, but Illinois (15-5, 8-2 Big Ten) turned to Cockburn down the stretch and he scored 14 points in the second half, going 6 of 9 from the field.
Cockburn tied the game with a short bucket with 2:25 to play. After a stop, he went up for another layup and missed, but Illini guard Da'Monte Williams' follow dunk gave Illinois a 55-53 lead with 1:34 to play.
The Wildcats made just 4 of their last 11 shots, and Illinois went 4 of 6 at the free throw line to close out the game.
No other Illinois players reached double figures, as Alfonso Plummer went 2 of 6 to finish with nine points.
Pete Nance led Northwestern (9-10, 2-8 Big Ten) with 21 points on 8-of-15 shooting to go along with five rebounds, while Boo Buie added nine points and Berry finished with eight points.
The Wildcats struggled offensively, particularly in the first half, going 6 of 26 (23%) from the floor. The Illini returned the favor though, going 1 of 8 over the last five minutes of the half to take a 24-19 lead into the break.
Team Stats
Illini
NU
FG%
.431
.357
3FG%
.278
.333
FT%
.667
.833
RB
36
30
TO
13
9
STL
4
6
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
21
FGM
8
3FGM
3
FTM
2
Pts
7
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
F
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