Even without standout Marcus Griffin for Wednesday’s game against the Northwestern men’s basketball team, No. 11 Illinois is talented enough to give any starting five a run for its money.
And yet the Wildcats weren’t backing down.
“We matched up pretty good against them,” NU guard Ben Johnson said.
So good, in fact, that with about 10 minutes to play Wednesday the Cats (7-10, 0-5 Big Ten) trailed by only five. Despite the surge, NU’s starters couldn’t finish the job —Illinois (14-4, 4-1) pounded them on both sides of the ball and went on to win by a deceptively large 63-49 margin.
Whether it was because of fatigue, a lack of height or a stagnant offense, the Fighting Illini wore down the Cats late in the game.
Nonetheless, Carmody deviated from his strategy in last week’s loss to No. 3 Michigan State by keeping his starting five in for most of the game. The group gave one of its most competitive performances of the season.
Starters Johnson and guard Winston Blake played the entire game, and Collier Drayton sat out for just one minute; meanwhile, forward Tavaras Hardy and guard Jitim Young logged about 30 minutes each. The bench accounted for only 19 minutes of play.
The move paid off early in the game. When the Illini threatened to open up the second half with a game-clinching run, the Cats’ starters responded. Johnson, who led NU with 11 points, hit a three-pointer, a fastbreak layup and a pair of free throws to cut a seven-point halftime deficit to four with 13:30 left.
“I liked the way we were playing for the most part, and sometimes you don’t want to upset that,” Carmody said.
The Cats pulled even closer with nine minutes left. Young — who scored 10 points in one of his best efforts of the conference season — pivoted into the lane for a layup and blocked 6-foot-8 Illini forward Lucas Johnson’s shot on the next possession, whipping the Welsh-Ryan Arena crowd into a frenzy.
The lead was down to 49-45, but NU’s stamina couldn’t keep up.
“One reason why we were more effective late was because Northwestern may have gotten a little tired,” Illinois coach Bill Self said.
A fatigued Cats defense could not box out Illinois’ Brian Cook, and the 6-foot-10 center took command of the game after Young’s block. Cook made four consecutive layups — three off offensive rebounds — and the Illini lead swelled to 12.
Cook and Illinois took full advantage of NU’s diminutive lineup. After Michigan State enjoyed a staggering 46-17 advantage on the boards last week, Illinois finished with a 42-18 edge, including 18 offensive rebounds and 32 points in the paint.
“We’re a lot bigger than them,” Illinois forward Sergio McLain said. “The ball just bounced our way on offensive rebounds.”
Meanwhile, NU could not penetrate Illinois’ 2-3 zone, managing only six points in the last nine minutes of the game.
That, Hardy said, detracted from the starting five’s impressive beginning.
“It’s more discouraging than encouraging because we blew it at the end just like we did against Penn State,” Hardy said. “We have to find a way to get over that hump.”
If nothing else, NU is progressing toward its first Big Ten win in two years, Johnson said.
“It was a great learning experience,” Johnson said. “We know we can play with them.”
