Feb. 3, 2001

Box Score

By JOHN KELLY
Associated Press Writer

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Illinois made sure this time.

Three days after blowing an early lead at Penn State, No. 6 Illinois got a quick lead Saturday on Northwestern and piled on.

Backup guard Sean Harrington hit a pair of 3-pointers to finish a 20-0 run in the first half and Illinois beat Northwestern 84-59.

"Losing at Penn State allowed us not to look ahead to the game Tuesday," Illinois coach Bill Self said. "That got their attention. We really haven't talked about Michigan State at all."

With the fifth-ranked Spartans coming in Tuesday night, the victory helped Illinois (17-5, 7-2 Big Ten) regain its confidence and claim a half-game lead in the conference standings. Michigan State and Iowa are 6-2 in the Big Ten.

Illinois made a season-high 12 3-pointers in 22 tries, with Harrington shooting 4-for-5.

"We know Harrington's a shooter and he was getting all open looks," Northwestern coach Bill Carmody said. "Our defense was really bad today. I don't even think I want to look at the stats sheet. I'm not strong enough right now."

The Wildcats (8-14, 0-9) shot 28 percent in the first half while the Illini were hitting 9-of-14 from 3-point range.

Brian Cook finished with 16 points and Damir Krupalija added 15 points and 12 rebounds for the Illini. Harrington scored 14.

"Our guys were really on in the first half, especially Sean," Self said. "He was on fire."

Ben Johnson led the Wildcats with 13 points and Jitim Young and Jason Burke added 11 each.

Illinois outscored Northwestern 20-0 over eight minutes midway through the first half to take a 32-8 lead. Northwestern never got closer than 22 after that.

"We were really getting in a good flow in the offense," Harrington said. "We didn't have to force any shots."

The Illini stretched the lead to 73-44 with 6:05 left in the game after Cory Bradford converted a 3-point play and Marcus Griffin followed by stealing the inbounds pass and laying it in.

Self has criticized his team for playing with less intensity against presumably weaker foes. Self said the team lost at Penn State because players let up late in the first half, and was not pleased by an earlier effort at Northwestern.

"We were back in sync, but I still didn't think we were back completely on defense, not the way I want us to play," Self said. "But today was a day when we could get our confidence back."

The difference this time against Northwestern was Griffin, who sat out the Illini's 63-49 win at Evanston. Griffin had a career-high six blocks Saturday, including five in the first half.

"That loss to Penn State was enough to motivate us," Griffin said. "I feel great. We got a lot of good things done. There was a lot of hustle. But we started thinking about Michigan State as soon as the game was over."