CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — It has been a while since No. 21 Northwestern (20-8, 11-6 Big Ten) felt the pains of a heartbreaking loss like it did Thursday.

Eyeing their sixth straight win and first season series sweep over Illinois (19-9, 10-7 Big Ten) since 1966, the Wildcats headed to State Farm Center. For the first 38 minutes of the contest, it seemed as if the squad was on its way to doing just this — however, in the dwindling minutes before the game clock sounded, their fate turned sour. The Cats dropped a 66-62 route to their instate rival despite senior guard Boo Buie’s career-high 35-point performance.

“I just come out of every game the same,” Buie said. “Play the same way and allow for my teammates to give me a position and whether that be score or make a play for them to score. I was just trying to be aggressive.”

From the onset of the game, NU was hot offensively. Off the assist from junior center Matthew Nicholson, senior forward Robbie Beran’s triple placed the Cats first on the scoreboard. Buie followed Beran’s lead, firing from all cylinders and draining two pullup threes. Within the first five minutes of the game, Buie had eight points to lift NU to a 14-6 advantage.

However, an 8-0 Illini run soon erased the Cats’ eight-point lead. But, NU’s defensive backcourt kept Illinois’ offense in check, courtesy of Beran’s block and redshirt senior guard Chase Audige’s two steals. In the first half alone, Audige recorded three steals, giving the Cats more offensive possessions on the other end of the court. And yet, a combination of scrambling for loose balls and doubling in the paint led NU to force five turnovers midway through the first half.

The Cats’ persistent intensity on the defensive floor catapulted the offensive floodgates as the squad’s veterans starting backcourt scored 8 unanswered points, starting with Audige’s running layup and capped with Buie’s consecutive triples. Sophomore guard Brooks Barnhizer’s three-pointer pushed NU over the edge, giving the Cats their first double-digit lead in the contest. 

One of the major reasons for the Cats’ success over the past month has been their ability to restrict high-powered offenses from beyond the arc. In Sunday’s victory, the squad restricted top Big Ten offense Iowa to 3-for-24 from deep. In a similar fashion in the first half on Thursday, NU contested multiple three-point shooters, causing Illinois to go scoreless from deep on eleven attempts. Yet, the second half was a different story.

“In the first half, I thought our spacing was good,” coach Chris Collins said. “We had a little more pop offensively in the first half and then got a little stagnant in the second half.” 

While Buie opened the scoring for the Cats in the second half with a jumper, his squad’s offense became cold. This caused the Cats to see their once 18-point lead fall to as low as four after a 17-3 Illini run over the first five minutes to open the half. 

Nevertheless, Buie put the team on his back, drilling a much-needed three for NU, followed by three offensive plays to place the team back within the grasp of victory. The senior guard’s scoring bust enabled him to eclipse his previous career-high 30 points with 12 minutes left in play. A Nicholson steal created a fast-break opportunity for junior guard Ty Berry to extend the Cats lead with a ten-point scoring run. 

Despite prolific runs and a career night from Buie, however, the Cats were unable to put away the Illini down the stretch due to their inability to get players outside of the senior guard involved in the second half. Scoring 13 of NU’s 25 second-half points, Buie was the lone contributor offensively down the stretch. The lack of offensive contributions was even tougher for the squad, which could not stop Illinois from beyond the arc nearing the end of the contest. 

“In order to win on the road against really good teams, you’ve got to have balanced scoring,” Collins said. “You can’t win with one guy. We weren’t able to help Boo out from a scoring perspective, especially in the second half.” 

In the final minutes of the contest, the Cats faced their first deficit of the game. NU’s tendency to be too reliant on Buie down the stretch plagued the squad’s offense when the game clock buzzer sounded in State Farm Center. By the final possession, Buie saw his running layup blocked, and the Cats received their first loss in three weeks.

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