Scores

Final

Northwestern 74

(14-8, 4-6 Big Ten)

Illinois 70

(16-7, 5-5 Big Ten)

Coverage: BTN

3:00 PM ET, February 5, 2012

State Farm Center, Champaign, IL

1 2 T
NW 36 3874
ILL 33 3770

Top Performers

Northwestern: J. Shurna 24 Pts, 3 Reb, 2 Ast, 2 Stl

Illinois: M. Leonard 21 Pts, 9 Reb, 2 Blk

Northwestern 74, Illinois 70

Associated Press

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- John Shurna scored 24 points to lead Northwestern past Illinois 74-70 on Sunday.

Reggie Hearn added 20 points on 7 of 8 shooting for the Wildcats (14-8, 4-6), who shot 60 percent from the floor to win back-to-back Big Ten games for the first time this season.

Brandon Paul scored 22 points and Meyers Leonard had 21 for Illinois (16-7, 5-5). Leonard was 10 of 12 from the field, making his first nine shots.

Northwestern opened the game with four quick 3-pointers to take an 18-9 lead, but a driving layup from Tracy Abrams topped a 20-11 run for Illinois to tie the game at 29.

Illinois didn't hold a lead until 16 minutes left in the second half, and an Abrams jumper with 5:17 left tied the score at 56-56, but Northwestern went on a 16-8 run from there to take control.

Copyright by STATS LLC and The Associated Press

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Team Stat Comparison

 
NW
ILL
Points 74 70
FG Made-Attempted 29-48 (.604) 26-48 (.542)
3P Made-Attempted 8-20 (.400) 11-24 (.458)
FT Made-Attempted 8-15 (.533) 7-11 (.636)
Fouls (Tech/Flagrant) 16 (0/0) 15 (0/0)
Largest Lead 9 4

Game Leaders

 
NW
ILL
PointsJ. Shurna 24B. Paul 22
ReboundsA. Marcotullio 7M. Leonard 9
AssistsD. Crawford 4T. Abrams 8
StealsJ. Shurna 2D. Richardson 2
Team Stats: Northwestern | Illinois

2011-12 Season

DATEGAMELINKS
Jan 4, 2012 ILL 57, @NW 56Recap
» Feb 5, 2012 NW 74, @ILL 70Recap

Next 5 Games

NW
ILL
02/09 IOWA 9:00pm
02/12 @PUR 6:00pm
02/15 @IND 6:30pm
02/18 MINN 7:00pm
02/21 MICH 8:00pm
 02/09 @IND 8:00pm
02/12 @MICH 1:00pm
02/15 PUR 8:30pm
02/18 @NEB 5:00pm
02/21 @OSU 7:00pm
Complete Schedule: Northwestern | Illinois

Big Ten Conference Standings

TEAMCONF W-LTOTAL W-L
#10 Michigan State13-527-7
#3 Ohio State13-527-7
#20 Indiana11-725-8
#20 Wisconsin12-624-9
#22 Michigan13-524-9
Purdue10-821-12
Northwestern8-1018-13
Minnesota6-1219-14
Illinois6-1217-15
Iowa8-1017-16
Nebraska4-1412-18
Penn State4-1412-20
View expanded standings »