CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Malcolm Hill scored 18 points to lead Illinois to a 66-50 win over Northwestern on Tuesday night.
The two teams played a tight contest where the deficit didn't grow larger than four points for much of the game. But Northwestern suffered an eight-minute scoring drought in the last 10 minutes and Illinois build its lead to double digits for the first time.
Illinois (16-12, 6-9 Big Ten) controlled the pace for much of the game, including offensively where the Illini shot 40 percent from the field and 6 of 18 from 3-point range.