In the game’s waning moments, Illinois’ Luther Head said it all with so little — just an index finger extended skyward, signaling that, yes, the Fighting Illini were still No. 1.
Illinois defeated Northwestern 78-66 on Saturday in front of a capacity crowd of 8,117 at Welsh-Ryan Arena. NU shot 57 percent and stayed within striking range for about 30 minutes, but untimely turnovers and rebounding problems prevented the Wildcats from making a run.
Illinois (18-0, 4-0 Big Ten) set a school record for its best start and remained one of four undefeated Division I teams. NU (8-8, 1-3) suffered its third straight loss.
“You have to play very well to beat a team of that caliber, and we did not,” NU coach Bill Carmody said.
Carmody said the number that jumped out at him was 16 — both the number of NU turnovers and Illinois offensive rebounds.
In one second-half stretch, after cutting an eight-point halftime deficit to four, the Cats committed turnovers on three straight possessions, losing their momentum.
Davor Duvancic pulled the Cats within four with a 3-pointer in front of the NU bench with 18:40 left. Illinois’ Roger Powell missed on the other end and NU rebounded, but with the score at 43-39, Duvancic threw the ball away.
The Cats would get no closer than four.
“I think there were more careless passes … than were forced,” NU forward Vedran Vukusic said. “You can’t beat the No. 1 team with 16 turnovers and let them have 16 offensive rebounds.”
Vukusic, NU’s leading scorer, was limited to just two points in the first half, both from free throws. But the junior finished with a team-high 20 points.
NU center Mike Thompson struggled in the low post, scoring seven points and committing four fouls. He had a crowd-pleasing two-handed dunk with 14:45 remaining to shave Illinois’ lead to 49-43, but was one-upped about 90 seconds later when guard Deron Williams wriggled down the lane and lobbed an alley-oop pass for Head, who slammed it in to give Illinois a 53-43 lead.
The NU fans got back into the game when Vukusic hit the first of his three 3-pointers with 12:11 remaining to pull the Cats to within five, but Illinois’ James Augustine responded with a 3-point play of his own, muscling in a basket over Thompson.
Vukusic’s second 3-pointer was countered by Powell’s jumper with 7:48 remaining. Vukusic’s final 3-point shot cut Illinois’ lead to 10 with 7:02 to go, but just 22 seconds later, Head knocked a 3 to start a 12-4 run.
“We never stopped them,” Carmody said.
Fired up by a raucous student section that was packed more than an hour before tip-off, the Cats opened the game with flair. Within 20 seconds, guard T.J. Parker stole the ball from Williams and raced down the court for an uncontested layup to give NU a quick 2-0 lead.
Head responded with a 3-pointer, but on the next possession, Duvancic sliced through the lane and finished with a finger-roll. That bucket gave the Cats its last lead of the game, 4-3.
Illinois scored seven unanswered points, including five by Head, who finished with a game-high 26. The six-point lead wasn’t much, but it created a hole that proved to be too deep for the Cats.
“We just gave them too many second-chance opportunities — offensive rebounds — and we had 16 turnovers,” said Duvancic, who scored 13 points, but only three after halftime. “We just killed ourselves.”
Reach Anthony Tao at [email protected].
