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CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - In their second matchup of the season, Illinois and Northwestern went down to the wire once again as the Wildcats made a second-half comeback to challenge the Illini's hot start. But, Illinois held strong and ended Northwestern's four-game win streak with a 73-66 victory. The win keeps the Illini on top of the Big Ten with a 11-3 conference record while Purdue stays in second at 11-4.
After a dominant first half by Alfonso Plummer set up a halftime lead for the Illini, Kofi Cockburn and RJ Melendez took over the second half and kept Illinois' lead from faltering. Plummer and Cockburn each scored 19 points, but the big man's 15 rebounds led to his 41st career double-double which ties Skip Thoren for the program record.
Melendez was clutch for the Illini late in the second half as he hit all six free throw attempts while scoring a career-high 14 points. He set his previous career-high just one game ago at Purdue with eight points. Melendez was just as impactful on the defensive end, securing six rebounds while blocking a shot and stealing two balls.
The Illini started the game off on a heater, jumping out to a quick 12-4 lead, fueled by Cockburn and Plummer. Cockburn led things off with a layup, assisted by Trent Frazier before Pete Nance hit a jumper. Plummer made his first three of the game then Cockburn hit another layup. After Boo Buie made a layup, Plummer scored five straight points, reaching eight total in the first five minutes, while the Wildcats had just four points as a team.
After the first media timeout, Melendez checked in and immediately but Illinois on another run. The freshman hit two three-pointers, both assisted by Andre Curbelo, while the Illini defense forced nearly three scoreless minutes from Northwestern.
Chase Audige got the Wildcats back on track with a jumper, but a steal by Melendez on the next defensive series led to a three from Frazier. Nance and Ty Berry fired back with the first three-pointers of the day for Northwestern while Cockburn made a hook shot.
Cockburn kept working in the paint, grabbing two offensive rebounds before nailing the and-1 layup. After a make from northwestern, Da'Monte Williams drilled a deep ball after catching a skip pass from Frazier. However, the Wildcats stayed hot on offense as Audige hit another jumper. But just before the under-8 timeout, Plummer nailed a three from the corner to put the Illini up 32-17.
Curbelo and Buie traded shots before Plummer made his fourth three-pointer of the day, thanks to a couple offensive rebounds by Cockburn. After a two-and-a-half minute scoring drought by the Cats, Audige made a pair of free throws then Berry hit another three.
While the Illini went on their own scoring drought for a couple minutes, Williams ended it with a trey then Plummer made another jumper. Nance made one more three, before Frazier and Buie traded layups to end the half. The Illini headed to the break with a 44-30 lead as Plummer led all scorers with 16 points.
Northwestern scored first out of the break, but the Illini defense would hold the Wildcats scoreless for the next five minutes. However, Illinois didn't score until nearly three minutes into the half as Cockburn made a layup to go up 46-32. But after recording his third foul, Cockburn headed back to the bench and Payne checked in.
Payne woke State Farm Center back up with an alley-oop from Frazier before blocking a Northwestern shot a couple possessions later. The Illini capitalized on the stop as Melendez broke free for a dunk, causing another uproar from Illini fans. Young finally ended the Wildcats' scoring drought with a layup and a free throw. A big block from Williams led to Plummer's fifth deep ball of the game as the Illini took a 53-35 lead.
The next seven minutes were dominated by Northwestern as it went on a 19-2 run and forced six Illinois turnovers. Berry fueled the comeback with a couple threes and a pair of free throws. Robbie Beran added a three and a dunk while Casey Simmons made a layup then got a steal and dunk to shrink Illinois' lead down to one point with six minutes to play.
After almost five scoreless minutes from the Illini, Cockburn took back the momentum. The Illini big made an and-1, a layup and a couple free throws to push Illinois' lead to 61-56. While Simmons came back with a layup, Frazier and Melendez each made a pair of free throws to keep the Illini up. Buie forced a foul next and hit both shots from the line, but Melendez was fouled again after grabbing an offensive rebound and made both free throws.
Cockburn and Nance traded shots then berry and Buie each made baskets to cut Illinois' lead down to 69-66 with 25 seconds to play. Grandison and Melendez both capitalized on crucial free throw opportunities at the end of the game to secure the win.
GAME NOTES
• Illinois is now 100 games over .500 all-time against Northwestern, with an all-time record of 142-42.
• Illinois won its eighth straight over Northwestern. This is the Illini's longest winning streak against the Wildcats since taking 11 in a row from 2/28/2004-12/30/2009.
• Illinois stayed on top of the Big Ten standings at 11-3 with six games remaining.
• Illinois has 11+ Big Ten wins for the third straight season. The Illini last achieved that as part of a seven-year streak from 2000-2006.
• Illinois has won 11 of its last 12 Big Ten home games.
• Illinois is the Big Ten's winningest team over the last three seasons, with a 43-14 (.754) record vs. league foes.
• Illinois is 25-4 in its last 29 games versus Big Ten opponents.
• Illinois outrebounded Northwestern, 47-30, with the +17 margin its biggest in the last nine games. The Illini have now outrebounded 16 of 24 opponents this season.
• Leading the way for Illinois was National Player of the Year candidate, and reigning Big Ten and Naismith Trophy Player of the Week Kofi Cockburn. He had 19 points and 15 rebounds for his 13th double-double of the season.
• Cockburn tied the Illinois all-time record for double-doubles with the 41st of his career, equaling the mark set by Skip Thoren from 1963-65.
» 41 Kofi Cockburn, 2020-22
» 41 Skip Thoren, 1963-65
» 40 Nick Weatherspoon, 1971-73
• RJ Melendez had career highs in points (14) and rebounds (6) in 17 minutes off the bench.
• Alfonso Plummer drained five 3-pointers on his way to 19 points.
• It marked Plummer's seventh game with 5+ threes, the most in a season in Illinois history.
• Illinois hosted a sellout crowd of 15,544 at State Farm Center, the fifth sellout of the season.
UP NEXT
Illinois will head on the road for a pair of games at Rutgers on Wednesday and Michigan State on Saturday. The Illini's next game in State Farm Center will be Feb. 24 against Ohio State.
