CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — They got our hopes up again.
Despite a strong second-half run from Northwestern, Illinois (18-6, 11-3 B1G) rode an early barrage of three-pointers to an 73-66 victory over the Wildcats (12-11, 5-9 B1G).
Ty Berry led the way for the Wildcats, finishing with 16 points on 5-of-8 shooting. Chase Audige added 12 points in another high-volume shooting game. For Illinois, Kofi Cockburn and Alfonso Plummer were in control with 19 points each.
Cockburn opened the scoring with a layup. Pete Nance responded with a jumper, but a three-pointer by Plummer and another layup by Cockburn put the Illini up 7-2.