The bad memories from his game against Northwestern one year ago have all but disappeared now for Luther Head.
In his Jan. 14, 2004, game against the Wildcats, Head was surrounded by controversy. He was coming off a two-game suspension after his arrest for driving with a suspended license.
Then the Chicago native’s happy homecoming turned into a miserable defeat when NU upset then-No. 25 Illinois, 70-60.
Head finished the game with just three points on 1-of-7 shooting.
“I had no confidence at all,” he said. “I wasn’t playing well at all.”
But on the day after the one-year anniversary, Head was the go-to guy for the No. 1 Fighting Illini (18-0, 4-0 Big Ten) in a 78-66 win against the Wildcats (8-8, 1-3).
Head, a 6-foot-3 senior guard, finished with a game-high 26 points on 9-of-14 shooting, including 4 of 8 from beyond the arc.
“I got out to a good start and I just kept trying to make shots,” Head said. “I was just thinking about coming here and playing good. Last year I didn’t have a good game, and I knew that I needed to come here and just help my teammates out anyway possible.”
In Head’s final trip to Evanston, he left with a happy ending every player hopes for in his return home.
“I got my fans here and all the Chicago natives are here,” Head said. “It just feels great to accomplish something here that hasn’t been done in a while.”
On a night when preseason Big Ten Player of the Year Deron Williams was in foul trouble and All-American junior guard Dee Brown shot less than 50 percent from the field, Head grabbed the spotlight.
“I think the attention that me and Deron get opens up doors for other players,” Brown said.
Head’s 3-pointer with 3:24 left capped a 7-1 run that gave Illinois an 18-point advantage, its largest lead of the game.
After the shot NU coach Bill Carmody immediately called timeout and Head took a victory lap around the floor of Welsh-Ryan Arena.
“I just felt good,” Head said. “I just felt like running, and that’s what I did.”
With NU starting three big men and Illinois starting three fast guards, the potential for matchup problems was obvious from the start.
“They just took advantage of it more than we did,” NU forward Vedran Vukusic said. “(Head) is a hell of a shooter, and he knocked down his shots.”
Reach Zach Silka at [email protected].
