This was the first game since December 2014 where the Illini suited up as a ranked program. That is a long stretch without being ranked, but this would have been an easy letdown game for the fans. That didn’t happen.
Northwestern kept this game tight the entire night. Five minutes into the game, Andres Feliz had to hit a three-pointer to regain the lead 11-10. With 10 minutes to go in the half, the game was tied 21-21. There was a lot of scoring, which surprised me.
With five minutes until halftime, Illinois took the lead back 29-27 with an Ayo Dosunmu three-pointer.