Dec. 30, 2009
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - John Shurna scored 27 points, but No. 25 Northwestern was outscored 15-9 in overtime as Illinois escaped with an 89-83 victory over the Wildcats in the Big Ten opener for both teams Wednesday evening at Assembly Hall.
The loss snapped NU's nine-game winning streak.
The Wildcats (10-2, 0-1 Big Ten) had trouble all night long with Illini post players Mike Tisdale (31 points, 11 rebounds) and Mike Davis (20 points, 17 rebounds). The duo combined for Illinois' first 10 points of the extra session as the hosts scored on each of their first six possessions.
Despite the struggles on the defensive end, Northwestern trailed by just two, 84-82, following Shurna's putback of his own miss with 1:33 to go. But D.J. Richardson was fouled attempting a 3-pointer on the other end and converted on two of the attempts to put the Illini up four with 1:01 left.
Jeremy Nash drew a foul on NU's next possession, but only hit on one of two from the charity stripe. But Luka Mirkovic came up with a steal on the other end, giving the Wildcats a chance to tie the game.
Alex Marcotullio, who had already hit four triples on the night, found himself all alone in the corner for the game-tying attempt, but his shot with 25 seconds to go was off the mark. Illinois made three of four from the line to seal the win.
Northwestern hoisted a whopping 84 shots in the contest to 62 for Illinois and committed a mere three turnovers. But the Wildcats were held to 33.3 percent shooting, compared to 50 percent for Illinois.
Northwestern came out of the gates on fire from distance, connecting on each of their first four shots from 3-point range to take an early 12-4 lead.
But Tisdale was a one-man wrecking machine for Illinois to keep the hosts in the game. He scored eight of the team's first 12 points as the Wildcats' shooting cooled off and the Illini rallied back to take a 16-15 advantage with just under 12 minutes remaining in the opening half.
The remainder of the first stanza was a back-and-forth affair until NU heated up from beyond the arch once again. Trailing 27-26 with four minutes to go, Shurna converted a four-point play to put the Wildcats ahead.
The basket and free throw triggered a 16-6 run by Northwestern to end the half, with Nash putting the exclamation point on the run with a triple out of the corner that beat the buzzer.
The 'Cats took a 42-33 lead into the intermission on the strength of 11-of-23 shooting from distance. Shurna and Nash each connected on four triples over the opening 20 minutes of play.
Northwestern led by as many as 10 early in the second half, but Illinois gradually chipped away at the Wildcats' advantage. The Illini made it all the way back to take a 56-55 lead with 11:20 to go following back-to-back 3-pointers by Brandon Paul.
Illinois (9-4, 1-0) still held a one-point lead with under five minutes to go when Bill Cole hit a huge 3-pointer and Davis followed with a dunk to give the hosts their biggest lead at six with 3:33 left.
However, NU refused to go away. A lay-in by Drew Crawford and two free throws by Michael Thompson cut the guests' deficit to two. Illinois was up four with 1:16 to go following two free throws by Tisdale, but Crawford had a follow dunk and the Wildcats got a stop on the other end.
A lay-up by Shurna off a perfect feed from Nash tied the game at 72 with 45 seconds remaining. Tisdale hit two more from the line with 31 seconds left before at tip-in by Mirkovic tied the game again with 17.1 seconds to go.
Illinois took two timeouts to try to set up the winning play, but Thompson came up with the steal and his desperation heave from half-court was barely off the mark.
But the Wildcats struggled to stop the Illini in the five-minute overtime and were forced to settle for a hard-fought defeat.
Nash finished with 16 points for NU, while freshmen Crawford and Marcotullio added 13 apiece. Thompson finished with eight assists and no turnovers in 45 minutes of action.
Northwestern returns to the court at 5:30 p.m. Saturday as it hosts 11th-ranked Michigan State at Welsh-Ryan Arena. The game is a sellout.