Big Ten Tournament Day 2 Photo Gallery (by Jerry Lai)

CHICAGO — Be careful what you wish for.

Coming into the Big Ten tournament and following its opening round win against Michigan on Thursday, all Northwestern could talk about was facing No. 1 Illinois.

The Wildcats’ wish was granted Friday and for the third time this season, Illinois walloped NU (15-16), with the latest setback coming in the conference tourney quarterfinals at the United Center.

The 68-51 loss ended the Cats’ season and kept them from narrowly reaching National Invitation Tournament eligibility for the second year in a row.

"We knew it was going to be a tough game," forward Davor Duvancic said. "We tried to slow the game down … but you can’t trail the No. 1 team in the nation by 12 points the whole game.

"I just feel really bad because we didn’t make the NIT this year."

After the NU guards combined for 40 points against Michigan on Thursday, coach Bill Carmody elected to start all three — Mohamed Hachad, Michael Jenkins and T.J. Parker — against Illinois (30-1).

But facing the potent trio of Dee Brown, Luther Head and Deron Williams, the NU guards were severely limited in their production.

With the exception of Hachad, who scored a career-high 23 points, the Cats’ guard play was not so sharp.

Jenkins and Parker scored a combined four points, and along with Hachad, the trio committed 10 of the team?s 19 turnovers.

"If you play a team the caliber of Illinois, I don’t know if you have to play perfectly," Carmody said, "but you can’t have as many turnovers as we did."

In addition to turning the ball over, which Illinois turned into 21 points, NU also was plagued by a cold shooting performance.

The Cats shot 35 percent from the field, including 5 of 19 from beyond the arc. NU also converted a meager 56 percent of its shots from the foul line.

"We got a couple good looks," center Vince Scott said. "It just seemed like a lot of them rolled in and out. We have to hit those layups. Against a good team like that, you can’t have very many mistakes."

Despite the significant differential in the final score, NU actually led for the first 3:17 of the game.

But Illinois went on a 14-4 run with 15:42 left in the first half and held a 38-22 lead at halftime.

The Cats didn’t give up in the second half, though, and cut the Fighting Illini’s lead to 11 with 16:13 left.

"We didn’t have anything to lose," Duvancic said. "This is it, so we tried to play hard."

Illinois responded with a surge of their own, commencing a 12-2 run with 11:46 left. Brown, the flashy Illinois playmaker, capped off the run with pass off the backboard finishing with a layin from Williams on the fast break.

"I didn?t know it was coming," Williams said. "If I knew I would’ve dunked it, but I didn’t know what he was thinking. I didn’t know what he was doing at all.

The loss wasn’t just the end of NU’s season but it also marked the end of the career of Duvancic, NU’s lone senior on scholarship.

Duvancic finished his final game in a purple uniform with four points and six rebounds in 26 minutes on the floor.

"It’s really tough right now to talk about it," said Duvancic, who nearly broke down in the locker room after the game. "I just want to say thanks to the coaches and to the whole program. I had a great four years with a great group of guys around me."