Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Illinois
Northwestern Falls At 23rd-Ranked Illinois, 66-56
2/28/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
By JIM PAUL
Associated Press Writer
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Illinois guard Dee Brown scored 20 points, but it was the 23rd-ranked Illini's inside scoring that broke open a close game and gave them a 66-56 victory over Northwestern on Saturday.
Forward Roger Powell and center Nick Smith combined for 17 second-half points as Illinois (20-5, 11-3 Big Ten) won its eighth straight game. The pair scored all of Illinois' points in a decisive 12-6 run that put the Illini up 55-44 with 8:52 to go.
Illinois eventually pushed its lead to 17 points with 5:31 to go, thanks to two 3-pointers from Brown during an 8-2 run.
Smith finished with 14 points and Powell had 13. Deron Williams also scored 13 points for Illinois.
Northwestern (12-13, 7-7), which beat Illinois 70-60 earlier in the season by getting the ball inside, was kept out of the paint through most of the second half and had to shoot over the Illini defense. As a result, the Wildcats shot only 37 percent in the second half, after shooting 52 percent in a close first half that included eight lead changes.
Illinois, which shot only 38 percent in its loss to Northwestern in January, shot 58 percent Saturday.
Vedran Vukusic and Jitim Young each had 16 points for Northwestern, while Mohamed Hachad scored 14.
Illinois turned the ball over on five of its first eight possessions of the game, but Northwestern couldn't convert any the miscues into points.
The Wildcats missed six of their first seven shots and the Illini were 1-for-4 before both teams settled in and played seesaw basketball the rest of the half.
The score was tied eight times and neither team had more than a three-point lead before halftime. The Illini scored five straight points in the final 48 seconds to take a 32-39 halftime lead.
