Northwestern started off on the wrong foot and never got it right Sunday night against in-state foe Illinois.

The Wildcats gave up the first 7 points of the contest, and the Fighting Illini matched every single run the Cats threw at them in a dominating 62-41 victory at Welsh-Ryan Arena.

“If we’re not scoring, it really makes it tough on the defense,” coach Bill Carmody said. “We (have) got to make shots. We were unable to do that tonight, and their defense gets the credit.”

NU cut the deficit to 19-15 with just less than three minutes to play in the first half, but Illinois ended the half on a 10-0 run to take a 14-point lead into the break. It only got worse after halftime when Illinois scored the first 16 points to extend the lead out to 30 points. From there the Cats were able to whittle away at the deficit but could not get the game any closer than 21 points.

— Josh Walfish

For The Daily’s full recap of last night’s game, visit https://dailynorthwestern.com/2013/02/17/sports/mens-basketball-illinois-runs-away-from-northwestern/