By Andrew SimonThe Daily Northwestern

After starting a total of one game in his Illinois career prior to this season, senior Warren Carter has become a fixture in the Illini lineup. The Wildcats probably wish he’d stayed on the bench.

The long, lanky forward torched the Cats for 17 points and eight rebounds in the Illini’s 58-43 win.

“One thing my teammates have been pushing me to do within the Big Ten is to be more of a dominant player,” Carter said. “I still think I could play better, but as far as what my role was for tonight, I thought I did a good job of it.”

During Carter’s first three seasons in Champaign, Ill., he had to wait behind First-Team All-Big Ten selection James Augustine.

But Northwestern caught an early glimpse of Carter’s potential in its two meetings with Illinois last season. The Dallas native notched five points and a then-career-high 12 rebounds in one game against the Cats, and chipped in 10 points and four rebounds in the other.

With Augustine playing in the NBA this season, Carter has made the most of his increased minutes. Entering Wednesday’s game, he was leading the team with 13 points per game and was second on the squad with 6.3 rebounds.

The 6-foot-9, 220-pound center took advantage of the Cats’ small lineup, making 7 of 10 shots.

“He has better games when teams aren’t as physical,” Illinois coach Bruce Weber said. “This is a game where he knows he can go inside and use his athleticism and his height, and he did go inside and get a few little layups.”

Most of Carter’s scoring came in two short but explosive bursts. In one four-minute stretch early in the game, Carter poured in eight points to help the Illini establish a commanding 15-3 lead.

NU waged a comeback and closed to within five points about five minutes into the second half, but then ran into Carter again. Over the next four minutes, he added seven more points, even knocking down a 3-pointer, as Illinois climbed back ahead by 17.

“He was finding the open spots, and in the 1-3-1 (zone defense) we have, spots are going to be open. So we just needed to find a better way of closing in on him and taking him out of what he wanted to do,” freshman Kevin Coble said. “We sort of played to his strengths and to our weaknesses, which we can’t do.”

The Cats will have until a week from Sunday, when they take on the Illini again on the road, to figure out how to change that.

Reach Andrew Simon at [email protected].