Northwestern falls to No. 9 Illinois

[January 03, 2024]  Marcus Domask piled up 32 points, six assists and five rebounds to lead No. 9 Illinois to a 96-66 victory over Northwestern on Tuesday in a Big Ten matchup in Champaign, Ill.
 
Domask hit 11 of 15 field goals and 9 of 10 free throws to finish one point from his career high for Illinois (11-2, 2-0). Justin Harmon added 20 points off the bench while Quincy Guerrier (14 points, 10 rebounds) posted his second consecutive double-double as the Illini shot 63 percent from the field and 56 percent on 3-pointers.  

Jan 2, 2024; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini guard Justin Harmon (4) guards Northwestern Wildcats guard Boo Buie (0) during the second half at State Farm Center. Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-USA TODAY Sports/File Photo

Point guard Boo Buie paced Northwestern (10-3, 1-1) with 20 points, but he finished with four turnovers and no assists. Ty Berry added 14 points while Luke Hunger notched a career-high 10 points.

Illinois played its second game without standout guard Terrence Shannon Jr. -- who remains suspended indefinitely after being charged with rape in Kansas from an incident that allegedly occurred in September -- but the Illini did not miss their leading scorer.

With seven players producing at least one basket, Illinois scored on 10 of its first 11 possessions to seize leads of 7-0 and 22-12. Coleman Hawkins delivered a 3-pointer and a conventional three-point play while Domask canned his first two shots. Northwestern, meanwhile, missed nine consecutive shots before Nick Martinelli converted a fourth-chance opportunity to cut Illinois' lead to 26-16 with 9:51 to play.

The Wildcats got as close as 28-21 on Brooks Barnhizer's pair of free throws, but the Illini reeled off 11 points in a row as they put the ball in Domask's hands. The Southern Illinois grad transfer would either drive for a short pullup or wait for a post trap to find the open man for a layup or dunk. Domask added a 3-pointer and a fadeaway down the stretch to give Illinois a 46-29 halftime lead.

Illinois shot 60 percent in the first half and came out just as hot in the second half as Domask wriggled free for two short shots, Ty Rodgers backed down a defender for a baseline turnaround and Guerrier laid in a Domask miss. That spree pushed the lead to 54-31 and forced Northwestern to call a timeout with 16:53 to go.

The game all but ended with 10:52 to go when Domask drew a shooting foul on Buie. When an official added a technical to Buie's tab for his fourth foul, that led to four Domask free throws, a 73-42 Illinois lead and Buie taking a seat for the rest of the night.

--Field Level Media

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