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Illinois Postgame Notes

Illinois 66, Purdue 57
State Farm Center // Jan. 21, 2015 // Attendance: 12,965 


1. Illinois battled past the Boilermakers for its third Big Ten win, turning in a strong defensive performance and equaling a season-high 16 offensive rebounds.

2. Trailing 49-48 with 6:46 remaining, Illinois rolled off eight straight to take a 56-49 advantage and never relinquished the lead. The Illini made their final nine free throws to close out the contest over the final 4:40.

3. The Illini, who entered the game ranked second in the nation in free throw percentage (78.7 percent), continued their impressive free throw shooting, drilling 21-of-24 (87.5 percent) from the charity stripe.

4. Illinois grabbed a 32-30 halftime lead thanks to an 8-0 run over the final 1:16 of the first half. Steals by Kendrick Nunn and Maverick Morgan led to fastbreak run-outs by Malcolm Hill and Leron Black. Hill drained a three to end the half, giving the Orange and Blue their first lead since jumping ahead 4-2 to begin the game.

5. Senior Nnanna Egwu broke Deon Thomas' career blocked shots school record and became Illinois' all-time leader with 179 career blocks, rejecting five shots to tie his career high for the fifth time. He also added 11 points, seven rebounds and three steals, which tied his career high.

6. Freshman Leron Black recorded his first career double-double with 15 points and a career-high 13 rebounds, marking the most by an Illini this season and since Egwu grabbed 14 boards against Ohio State (2/15/14) last season. He also finished 6-of-9 from the field and had two steals in his first career start.

7. Black earned the third double-double by an Illini this season, with the other two both by Rayvonte Rice.

8. Sophomore Kendrick Nunn nabbed a career-high seven rebounds and equaled his career high with five free throws while finishing with 14 points.

9. Sophomore Malcolm Hill delivered a solid performance with a game-high 18 points, six rebounds and four assists.

10. To recognize the 10th anniversary of the 2004-05 Fighting Illini team that won a school-record 37 games and finished as national runner-up, bobbleheads of the starting five from that beloved squad are being given out to 1,000 fans at each Big Ten weeknight home game this season. Tonight's game featured the bobblehead of James Augustine, who still stands as Illinois' all-time leading rebounder with 1,023 boards and is the school's all-time record holder in career field goal shooting at 61.7 percent.