Drew Crawford finished with 12 points and five rebounds as Northwestern knocked off the Illini.Drew Crawford finished with 12 points and five rebounds as Northwestern knocked off the Illini.

Thompson's 22 Leads Northwestern Past In-State Rival Illinois, 71-70

Feb. 5, 2011

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Northwestern 71, No. 24 Illinois 70
Site: Welsh-Ryan Arena • Evanston, Ill.
Records: Northwestern (14-8, 4-7 Big Ten); Illinois (15-8, 5-5 Big Ten)
Up Next: at Michigan • Wednesday, Feb. 9 • 5:30 p.m. CT

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern pounced out to an early 11-point lead on in-state rival Illinois, then fought off a handful of Illini runs to earn a 71-70 victory at Welsh-Ryan Arena Saturday afternoon. The Wildcats, who never trailed in the game, were led by 22 points by Michael Thompson, who hit a pair of crucial three's in the waning moments to help give NU the victory.

JerShon Cobb added 13 points for the Wildcats with Drew Crawford finishing with 12 points and five rebounds.

With the victory, Northwestern completes the Welsh-Ryan Arena sweep of the Illini this season, having also defeated Illinois in volleyball, wrestling and women's basketball.

The memory of a humbling loss to the Illini in the first meeting between the teams in Champaign was certainly in the Wildcats' minds coming into the contest. NU fell into a huge early deficit in that contest and could never recover.

Playing in the first game ever televised by CBS from Welsh-Ryan Arena, it was Northwestern that raced out to a big early lead this time around. Spearheaded by eight early points from Crawford, the hosts found themselves ahead 18-7 following the sophomore forward's second 3-pointer with 12:46 left in the opening half.

However, Illinois was finally able to come to life, responding with A 19-8 surge to tie the game at 26 apiece capped by two free throws by Brandon Paul with 1:36 left in the opening stanza.

But it was the Wildcats who finished the period out strong, as NU scored the final six points, including two free throws by Cobb with no time remaining, to take a 35-29 lead into the intermission.

Northwestern maintained a comfortable advantage through the first half of the second period with Alex Marcotullio's trey putting the 'Cats up 53-41 with 11:06 left. The Illini bounced up off the deck, though, scoring the game's next 12 points and suddenly the game was tied 53-53 with 6:39 remaining.

With NU looking to pick up its first win over a ranked opponent this season, the Wildcats rode the hot hand of their senior leader down the stretch. Thompson answered with a triple to give Northwestern the lead back and Davide Curletti followed with a tough basket in the lane to put the hosts up by five.

After an Illinois basket, Thompson missed from deep, but John Shurna gathered the offensive rebound and kicked it out to Thompson in the corner who nailed it this time around to make it 61-55 'Cats with 3:41 to go.

Two Demetri McCamey free throws got Illinois within four, but Thompson responded with his third 3-pointer over a four-minute span to put the Wildcats up by seven with 2:18 left.

Down six, Illinois got a triple from McCamey to make it a three-point game with 40 seconds remaining. Northwestern couldn't convert on the front end of the bonus on the other end, but McCamey was called for a charge while driving to the basket with 20.3 seconds left.

However, NU turned it over and Illinois had another chance to tie the game. Illinois entered the game shooting 41 percent as a team from 3-point range on the season, so Northwestern head coach Bill Carmody opted to have the Wildcats foul other than let the guests shoot for the tie. McCamey made two from the line to get the Illini within one, but Shurna hit two from the stripe on the other end two give the Wildcats a 70-67 lead with 9.8 seconds showing on the clock.

The Wildcats fouled McCamey again with 7.0 seconds to go, but he missed the front end of the bonus and Luka Mirkovic came up with a huge rebound. Mirkovic was fouled and made one from the charity stripe to seal the win before Paul hit a meaningless 3-pointer at the buzzer.

Northwestern returns to action at 5:30 p.m. Central time Wednesday as it travels to Michigan.

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