Illinois Edges Northwestern, 59-56

Cockburn neared a double-double in his return with 22 points and nine rebounds as the big man shot 6-of-9 in the second half. Both RJ Melendez and

Brandin Podziemski were instrumental in Illinois' late game comeback. While Melendez made more plays off the ball, holding strong defensively and grabbing three rebounds, Podziemski made a layup and a three in crunch time to stop Northwestern's momentum. 

Heading into the game, Illinois and Northwestern had the third and fourth highest scoring offenses in the Big Ten. But the first half was anything but a shootout. Between the teams, just 16 shots were made in the first 20 minutes as Illinois shot 36% from the field and Northwestern shot 23%.

The Wildcats felt Kofi Cockburn's return early as the Illini big man started the game off with a dunk followed by a three-pointer from Plummer. While Illinois held Northwestern scoreless through the first three minutes, the Wildcats big man, Pete Nance, hit a setback jumper to get his team on the board.

Trent Frazier countered with a three-pointer off a pass from Da'Monte WIlliams, marking his second assist in the first few minutes. Coleman Hawkins hit a floater to put Illinois up 10-2 as the Wildcats went scoreless for three minutes. Elyjah Williams ended the drought with a layup, but Frazier fired right back with another three as Cockburn dished it out from the paint.

While Nance hit another jumper, the Wildcats went the next six minutes without making a field goal. In that stretch, Northwestern made just a few free throws, and the Illini took advantage offensively.

Grandison dumped it to Cockburn down low who slammed it in, then RJ Melendez grabbed an offensive rebound on the next possession and laid it in. A couple plays later, the Wildcats got a fast break opportunity, but were stopped by Frazier. Payne grabbed the rebound and the Illini got it to Melendez down the floor who dunked it to go up 19-9.

The Illini continued to bring the defensive intensity, but struggled to control the ball on offense. After a fadeaway jumper from Cockburn, Illinois had back-to-back turnovers, marking the sixth and seventh miscue of the half. Northwestern capitalized as Nance and Ty Berry made consecutive threes to get within four points.

Northwestern kept the momentum, holding Illinois scoreless for four minutes before Cockburn tipped in a layup off a miss from Frazier. The Wildcats went on another scoreless run, but the Illini made just one free throw in the stretch. Berry scored the final points of the half with a layup, but the Illini held onto a 24-19 halftime lead.

Both big men came out of the break strong as Nance hit a jumper and Cockburn made back-to-back layups, getting the and-1 on the second shot. After being held scoreless by Frazier the entire first half, Boo Buie got to work, hitting a jumper and two free throws. The Illini struggled with turnovers again as they had three in under three minutes. After another pair of free throws from northwestern, Buie tied the game up at 29-29 with a short jumper.

Cockburn took back the lead with a layup assisted by Luke Goode but Berry drilled a three to give the Wildcats their first lead of the game. Northwestern's

Williams made a layup to extend the lead as the Wildcats held a 13-2 run. The Illini got back into an offensive rhythm as Payne made a putback, but Nance hit a turnaround jumper to hold onto the lead.

While Grandison and Melendez each scored to take back a one-point lead, turnovers kept plaguing the Illini. A steal by Williams led to a three from Nance, then Ryan Greer hit a couple jumpers. While Plummer hit a trey, another steal by Greer resulted in a and-1 for Williams as Northwestern led 46-40 with eight minutes to play.

With multiple Illini foul trouble, the Illini freshmen stepped up as Melendez dished it to Brandin Podziemski for a layup. Cockburn and Nance traded a couple shots, then Podziemski hit a three to get within two points of the Wildcats. Williams got fouled with the Illini on the bonus and made both free throws to tie the game.

Chase Audige took back the lead with a jumper, but a layup from Cockburn tied the game at 53-53 with under three minutes to play. After a scoreless minute on both sides, Cockburn went for the go ahead layup and missed, but Williams flew across the floor to slam in the putback.

With a two-point lead at the 1:34 mark, the Illini defense locked in and forced a miss which led to a free throw opportunity for Cockburn. After he split the two attempts, Illinois forced another miss from the Wildcats. Plummer sealed the game with a few free throw makes in the final seconds.

The win puts the Illini back on top of the conference with an 8-2 record. Illinois will head back to Champaign to host No. 11 Wisconsin, who sits a game behind the Illini in conference standings, on Tuesday night. 

POSTGAME NOTES

• No. 24 Illinois remained in first place in the Big Ten standings.

• Illinois is 8-2 at the halfway point of Big Ten play for the second time in the last three seasons:

• Illinois faced a 51-46 deficit with 5:36 remaining, but outscored the hosts 13-2 down the stretch to pull away, 59-53 (NU made a three at the buzzer for final score of 59-56).

• Illinois' defense held Northwestern to season lows in points (56) and field goals (20).

• Illinois has won 12 of its last 14 Big Ten road games and seven of its last eight.

• Illinois is the winningest team over the last three Big Ten seasons with a 40-13 record (.755), including Big Ten Tournament games.

• Illinois is 22-3 in its last 25 games versus league foes. 

• Illinois won its seventh straight game against Northwestern. This is the Illini's longest winning streak against the Wildcats since taking 11 in a row from 2/28/2004-12/30/2009.

• Kofi Cockburn returned to the lineup after missing two games, but Andre Curbelo remained sidelined. Illinois has had nine different starting lineups, the most among high-major conference teams. 

• Cockburn had game highs of 22 points and 9 rebounds in his return. He is among the national leaders in points and rebounds, scoring 21.1 ppg and getting 11.6 rpg.

• Cockburn remains the only player in the country averaging at least 20 points and 10 rebounds on the season. 

• Da'Monte Williams had 9 rebounds to tie for the game-high with Cockburn. It was Williams' best rebounding output in Big Ten games this season.

• Williams had 5 points, with his final two the biggest of the night, scoring on an offensive rebound dunk with 1:34 left to put the Illini ahead for good, 55-53.

• Illinois held Northwestern to a drought of 7+ minutes without a made shot in the first half. 

• Illinois outrebounded Northwestern, 36-30. The Illini have outrebounded 15 of 20 opponents.

• Illinois outscored Northwestern in the paint, 32-16.