“You got got! You got got!”
The chants bellowed from a sea of orange pervading Welsh-Ryan Arena. Three ostensible Northwestern students had just taken the floor for a media timeout promotional contest, only to shoot foul shots, claim a prize and rip off their purple shirts in favor of Fighting Illini apparel lying underneath.
It was just that kind of night.
Northwestern (13-13, 4-9 Big Ten) was ran inside-out Sunday, falling to in-state rival Illinois 62-41. Behind impressive ball movement and exploitative defense, the Illini (19-8, 6-7) ripped off their fourth consecutive win, giving the Wildcats their fifth loss in six games.
“Our offense was bad the entire night, it didn’t seem to have any flow to it,” head coach Bill Carmody said after the game. Shooting an anemic 36.7 percent from the floor in the first half, Northwestern fielded just one player in double-figures and went a paltry 5-of-27 from behind the arc.
The Wildcats struggled to maintain a rhythm from the get-go, hoisting up two air balls in the game’s opening minutes. Illinois jumped out to a 7-0 lead and ran offense through senior guard D.J. Richardson, who lead all scorers with 18 points.
Northwestern closed the gap to 19-15 before the Illini went on a scorching 10-0 run to close the first half, capped off by a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from Richardson.
After halftime, things picked up right where they left off, with Illinois scoring 16 unanswered points before a layup from junior guard James Montgomery III nearly seven minutes in. The Wildcats enjoyed brief success with the 1-3-1 zone but struggled to contain Richardson and sophomore guard Tracy Abrams in man-to-man defense.
Senior Reggie Hearn lead the Wildcats with 11 points, while sophomore guard Dave Sobolewski went scoreless on six shots.
“At Ohio State [last Wednesday], we made shots. Tonight, we just didn’t make shots,” Hearn said bluntly.
With 14 turnovers and not a single lead all night, Northwestern bumbled to one of its sloppiest performances all season.
“We were a little lackadaisical...We didn’t take care of the ball or follow our game plan,” senior guard Alex Marcotullio noted.
Illinois was up by as many as 30 and looked decidedly different from the team the Wildcats shocked back on Jan. 17.
“They guarded us in a similar fashion to the way they did in Champaign, switching everything,” Carmody said. “We were just trying to force some things when it wasn’t really necessary.”
Since upsetting then-No. 12 Minnesota last month, the ‘Cats have tail-spun to five double-digit defeats while losing leading rebounder Jared Swopshire for the season. Illinois, meanwhile, has quietly become one of the hottest teams in the Big Ten, upsetting ranked Minnesota and Indiana before scooping up big wins against Purdue and now Northwestern.
“We were really locked in...I think our communication has gotten better,” said Illinois head coach John Groce. “Guys executed the gameplan well and we played incredibly hard...We were really unselfish on defense.”
Groce added that senior guard Brandon Paul put out one of his best overall games of the year, despite tallying just 8 points.
Northwestern will give it a go again Wednesday when it hosts No. 20 Wisconsin.