CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Trent Frazier scored 16 points, including hitting four 3-pointers, to lead No. 24 Illinois to a 75-71 win over Northwestern on Saturday.
"Northwestern is young but, boy, are they talented," Underwood said. "It was very much like watching our team from last year."
Illinois (13-4, 5-2 Big Ten) had five players in double figures. Ayo Dosunmu scored 14 points, Giorgi Bezhanishvili had 13, Kofi Cockburn 12 and Andres Feliz added 10.
"It feels good to be 5-2 and second in the Big Ten," Dosunmu said. "But we have more work to do, and we start it at tomorrow's practice."
Illinois led by four at the half and was up 69-60 with 3:50 remaining. Northwestern went on an 8-2 run capped by A.J. Turner's 3-pointer with 44 seconds left. Dosunmu answered with a jumper 26 seconds later. Miller Kopp hit a 3-pointer with 7 seconds remaining to get Northwestern within 73-71. Dosunmu then hit two free throws a second later to seal the game.
"You want to stop Ayo? Go ahead," Underwood said.
"I just came up big," Dosunmu said of his late-game jumper. "Got to my pull up and it came up clean."
Robbie Beran led Northwestern (6-11, 1-6) with 17 points. Kopp had 16 points, Pat Spencer 14 and Ryan Young added 12.
Frazier was 3 of 5 from the field in the first half, all three from beyond the 3-point line, He also hit two free throws and led all scorers with 11 points in the first frame.
Illinois led 38-34 at the half.
Frazier logged his sixth consecutive game without a turnover.
"That's unbelievable," Bezhanishvili said. "He's a leader on this team and just an elite guard, not just in the conference but in the country."
Dosunmu agreed. "Trent makes the right decisions and the right reads," he said. "He doesn't force it."
Underwood was also glad to see Frazier be more offensive minded after mainly playing his trademark defense in the past several games.
"Everyone knows Trent is capable of a 30-point half," Underwood said. "He's still evolving, but boy do we need his offense. There are no upsets in this league. It's tough to win in the Big Ten,"
NEXT UP
Illinois next has a two-game road trip, first against Purdue on Tuesday before visiting No. 19 Michigan on Jan. 25. The Illini return home Jan. 30 when Minnesota comes to State Farm Center.
ILLINOIS GAME NOTES
- Illinois (13-5, 5-2) has now won three consecutive meetings against Northwestern, taking a series lead of 137-42 overall and 70-14 in Champaign.
- Illinois extends its Big Ten win streak to four.
- Illinois is 11-1 at State Farm Center this season.
- Illinois is now three games above .500 in Big Ten play for the first time since Jan. 18, 2012 (4-1).
- With 13 victories overall, the Illini have now surpassed last season's win total of 12 (12-21).
- Trent Frazier became the 50th Illinois player to score 1,000 career points. Points number 998, 999 and 1,000 came on a three-pointer with 1:36 left in the first half. Frazier led the Illini with 16 points, knocking down four three-pointers on seven attempts, to finish the game with 1,005 career points.
- Frazier did not turn the ball over for the sixth straight game. He has now played 193:24 minutes since his last turnover, which came in the second half against Missouri on Dec. 21.
- Ayo Dosunmu scored Illinois' last four points to close out the game, hitting a clutch jumper with 18.1 seconds remaining, as well as sinking two free throws with 7.7 sec left on the clock.
- Five players scored in double-digits for the Illini – Trent Frazier (16), Ayo Dosunmu (15), Giorgi Bezhanishvili (13), Kofi Cockburn (12), Andres Feliz (10)
- Kofi Cockburn led the team in rebounding with seven, the 14th time he's led the team in rebounding this season.
