No. 24 Illinois holds off pesky Northwestern

[January 20, 2020]    Trent Frazier scored 16 points, Ayo Dosunmu had 15 points and six assists, and No. 24 Illinois held on for a 75-71 win over visiting Northwestern on Saturday evening in Champaign, Ill.

Fighting Illini guard Alan Griffin (0) reacts during the first half against the Northwestern Wildcats at State Farm Center. Mandatory Credit: Patrick Gorski-USA TODAY Sports

Giorgi Bezhanishvili added 13 points on 6-for-9 shooting for Illinois (13-5, 5-2 Big Ten), which won its fourth game in a row. The Fighting Illini, who are ranked for the first time since 2014, eclipsed their win total from all of last season.

Robbie Beran scored a career-high 17 points to lead Northwestern (6-11, 1-6). Miller Kopp finished with 16 points for the Wildcats, who have lost seven of their last eight games.

A 3-pointer by Ryan Young cut Northwestern's deficit to 60-58 with 7:51 remaining. The Wildcats called timeout hoping to set the stage for a strong finish, but Illinois quickly regrouped.

The Fighting Illini scored the next seven points to increase their lead to 67-58 with 5:07 to go. Kofi Cockburn started the run with a slam dunk off a feed from Andres Feliz, and Bezhanishvili finished it with a 3-pointer.

A putback layup by Beran brought the Wildcats within 69-65 with 2:42 left. Northwestern had a chance to get within two, but Cockburn provided a defensive highlight when he blocked Beran's layup attempt on the next possession.

Feliz made a pair of free throws to push Illinois' lead to 71-65 with 1:29 to go.

The Wildcats again refused to quit, with A.J. Turner making a 3-pointer from the left corner with 44.8 seconds left, again slicing the Wildcats' deficit to three.

Dosunmu made it 73-68 after he waited for the shot clock to wind down and then calmly drained a jump shot from just inside the arc with 18.1 seconds remaining.

Kopp responded with a 3-pointer from the left corner to trim the deficit to 73-71 with 7.7 seconds left.

Dosunmu made a pair of free throws with 6.5 seconds remaining to finish the scoring.

Illinois led 38-34 at the half. Neither team led by more than four points during the first 20 minutes.

The Wildcats pulled ahead 25-21 when Beran made a pair of free throws with 8:21 remaining. That capped a 7-0 run that also included a 3-pointer by Pete Nance and a jump shot by Kopp.

The Fighting Illini closed the first half on a 17-9 run to regain the lead.

--Field Level Media

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