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Illinois Postgame Notes

Illinois 72, Northwestern 67
Welsh-Ryan Arena, Evanston, Ill. // Jan. 14, 2015 // Attendance: 7,652 


1. Illinois now leads the all-time series vs. Northwestern 131-39 overall and 67-14 in Evanston.

2. It was the first true road win for the Illini in six tries. Illinois had dropped five straight on the road since a 66-63 win at Iowa on March 8, 2014.

3. Illinois wrapped-up a stretch of four out of five road games to open Big Ten play. The Illini (12-6 overall, 2-3 B1G) will now have 4 of their next five games at home.

4. The Orange and Blue committed a season-low three turnovers in the game, with all three coming on offensive fouls. The Illini had zero live-ball turnovers for the game. As a result, Illinois held a hefty 14-0 advantage in points off turnovers.

5. Illinois improves to 2-0 this season and 16-5 during the John Groce era in games decided by five points or less.

6. The Illini, who entered the game ranked second in the nation in free throw percentage (.783), hit 12-of-14 against the Wildcats (.857), including 6-of-6 in the final 7.5 seconds to ice the game (four by Kendrick Nunn and two by Malcolm Hill).

7. Sophomore Kendrick Nunn poured in a career-high 25 points, hitting 8-of-13 from the field and 4-of-7 from behind the arc, while also pulling down five rebounds. Nunn's previous career-high was 19 points on two occasions, most recently at Minnesota on Feb. 19, 2014. His season-high entering tonight was 16 points against Hampton on Dec. 17.

8. Junior Aaron Cosby poured in a season-high 19 points, including 4-of-8 from behind the arc. It was Cosby's sixth double-digit scoring game this year, but just his second in the last 13 Illini games.

9. Senior center Nnanna Egwu had one blocked shot to bring his career total to 174, moving him into a tie for third on the UI career blocks list with Derek Holcomb (1979-81). Egwu now needs three blocks to tie and four to break Deon Thomas' Illinois record (177). Egwu also is behind Mike Tisdale's second-place total of 176.

10. Senior Ahmad Starks hit double-figures with 10 points and dished out a team-high four assists. It was Starks' fifth double-digit scoring game this season, but just his second in the last 15 Illini games.