With 1:47 left in the first half against Illinois, the future of Northwestern basketball walked, arm-in-arm, out of Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Favoring his left knee, sophomore Vedran Vukusic limped to the locker room, assisted by Michael Thompson and Tim Doyle, two transfer players who won’t officially join the Wildcats’ roster until next season.
Despite the absence of three of their most talented players, the Cats did just fine Wednesday night, recording a 70-60 upset over No. 25 Illinois (10-4, 1-2). Led by explosive performances from their two upperclassmen — Davor Duvancic and Jitim Young — the Cats beat the Fighting Illini for the first time in nine meetings.
The victory, the Cats’ second straight, pushed the squad into a first-place tie in the Big Ten.
“I tried to tell the guys that yeah, it’s a great feeling,” Young said. “But act like we’ve been there before.”
NU’s two veterans took over Wednesday’s game, especially after halftime. Duvancic, a junior, was especially strong, dropping a career-high 22 points, including 19 after the break.
Young, the team’s captain, recorded a double-double, scoring 15 points and grabbing 10 boards. He repeatedly took the ball to the basket, forcing himself through Illinois’ defense on his way to the hoop.
“We made them play tentatively,” Young said. “We really took their aggression away and if you take the aggression away from Illinois, they’re not as tough to play against.”
The Cats stayed relatively close throughout the first half, but things didn’t start clicking for NU until the second half — after Vukusic was lost for the game.
Down 38-29 at the break, NU’s exploded for a 15-5 run in the first minutes of the second period. Mohamad Hachad capped the run with a 3-pointer, giving the Cats a 44-43 lead and sending the crowd into a frenzy.
From there, NU’s defense took over. The Cats outscored the Illini 41-22 in the second half, holding Illinois to 21 percent shooting.
Meanwhile the Cats, who shot just 40 percent in the first half, made nearly 62 percent of their attempts. After the break, Illinois shot just 21 percent from the field.
The game’s surprise was Duvancic. Guarded for most of the game by Nick Smith, the Illini’s 7-foot-2 center, Duvancic said he realized he could take advantage of his own quickness.
“I can’t shoot over him, so obviously I was like, I’ll just go by him,” he said. “The whole area was open, so I just took it right to the end.”
With their renewed confidence, the Cats defeated Illinois for the first time in Bill Carmody’s tenure. But the coach doesn’t want his players to celebrate too much.
“I told them feel good until about 2:30 this morning and then let’s go to work tomorrow,” he said.
