LIVE: FINAL - No. 24 Illinois 75, Northwestern 71
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Welcome to the State Farm Center where Illinois (12-5, 4-2 in Big Ten Conference) will face Northwestern (6-10, 1-5).
I'm LOOKING LIVE...at the State Farm Center floor in Champaign, Ill., as we're about an hour from the opening tip.
NOTE: Please join us as we live-blog and discuss the Illini exhibition game here in our weekly Illini Gameday Open Thread. Dive into the conversation — it's easy — by simply going to the top right of the redesigned site and click the follow button.
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Game 18: Northwestern at No. 24 Illinois
Date/Time/Place: Sunday, Jan. 5, 2020: 7 p.m. CST, State Farm Center, Champaign, Ill.
Capacity: 15,544
Records: Illinois 12-5, 4-2 in Big Ten; 12-21, 7-13 in Big Ten Conference in 2018-19. Northwestern 6-10, 1-5 in Big Ten; 13-19, 4-16 in Big Ten Conference in 2018-19.
Line: Illinois by 11.5
Series notes: Illinois leads 136-42. Illinois has won three in a row in Champaign.
TV: BTN – Brandon Gaudin (Play-By-Play), Andy Katz (Analyst)
Radio (Illinois): Brian Barnhart (PBP), Deon Thomas (analyst) - The broadcast can be heard live on TuneIn online radio, Sirius/XM 372 and at FightingIllini.com.
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Before every game of the 2019-20 season, we take a look at three things you’ll want to watch for after the tip.
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1) How will Illinois handle the attention of being ranked?
For the first time in 1,869 days, the University of Illinois men’s basketball program is ranked. Brad Underwood says he doesn't pay attention to such things but he's never actually been the head coach of a team with a number proceeding its name. The players, such as Trent Frazier and Ayo Dosunmu, say all that will happen is it'll be easier to see their score on ESPN's BottomLine graphic as a ranked team. However, it'll be interesting how, for the first time since they arrived on campus, this group of players will react to being hunted as a ranked team instead of being the underdog hunter trying to rebuild the program. This stretch of games in early January could be where you can truly grade the leadership on this roster.
2) Does Northwestern's big lineup affect Illinois?
Northwestern owns one of the biggest lineups in the Big Ten Conference and will not get shaken by the size of Illinois' frontcourt. Wildcats center Ryan Young has burst onto the scene in his first 16 games of college basketball and it may be a matchup of the two best freshman bigs in the league. He is one of three rookies in the Big Ten to average 10.0 or more points and more than 6.5 rebounds per game. He has grabbed at least seven rebounds in nine games. Kofi Cockburn is the reigning Big Ten Freshman of the Week after averaging a double-double of 13.0 points and 11.5 rebounds with 1.5 blocks in wins over Wisconsin and Rutgers. This is already the sixth league rookie accolade in 10 weeks for Cockburn, expanding his record for the most honors by an Illini freshman.
3) Does Northwestern's youth eventually grow up?
Northwestern has three underclassmen averaging more than 10 points a game (Kopp - 12.9; Buie - 10.8; Young - 10.0) this season, which is tied for most in the Big Ten. NU is also the lone B1G program to have two rookies averaging double figures. Underwood said Friday that they're a team "that keeps getting better every time they play" and doesn't that sound familiar to Illini fans? It feels like Underwood is describing his youthful Illini teams of the past few years. Is this Wildcats team talented enough to beat Illinois? Yes. Will they finally put it together for their first road win of the season? Probably not but it's not out of the realm of reality.
Prediction: Illinois 77, Northwestern 69
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Uniform Update: Illinois appears to be going with the white retro uniforms. Northwestern appears to be going with the all purple today.
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NOTE: Your game officials today are Don Daily, Courtney Green and Donnie Eppley.
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Other Big Ten Conference game on the schedule tonight:
Penn State 90, No. 21 Ohio State 76 - FINAL
No. 17 Maryland 57, Purdue 50 - FINAL
Indiana at Nebraska - BTN - 6 p.m. CST
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NOTE: Illinois going with the common Ayo-Frazier-Williams-Giorgi-Kofi starting lineup today. Northwestern going with Spencer-Kopp-Nance-Beran-Young lineup today.
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NOTE: Former Illinois head coach Lou Henson, along with his wife Mary, are sitting courtside at State Farm Center today. Lou is in his signature orange blazer.
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MEDIA TIMEOUT - 13:03 left in 1st - No. 24 Illinois 15, Northwestern 12 - Pretty solid ball movement by Illini (five assists on five field goals). Northwestern trying to get size advantage matchups on the block.
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MEDIA TIMEOUT - 8:59 left in 1st - Northwestern 23, No. 24 Illinois 21 - Northwestern freshman center Ryan Young currently dominating Illini freshman Kofi Cockburn in the paint. Northwestern has made its last four FGs and has three offensive rebounds today.
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MEDIA TIMEOUT - 7:49 left in 1st - Northwestern 25, No. 24 Illinois 21 -Williams banks in a 3-pointer but it is waived off because the shot clock went off. Both teams shooting over 50 percent but Northwestern outrebounding Illini 11-6.
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MEDIA TIMEOUT - 3:49 left in 1st - No. 24 Illinois 29, Northwestern 29 -Both teams are exactly 11 of 23 from the field. Trent Frazier with eight points and three assists today. Northwestern freshman forward Robbie Beran with game-high nine points.
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NORTHWESTERN TIMEOUT - 1:31 left in 1st - No. 24 Illinois 36, Northwestern 32 - Trent Frazier has become the 50th Illini to score 1,000 career points. I'm not sure but I think Brad Underwood might self destruct if Illinois doesn't throw the ball inside to Cockburn soon.
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HALFTIME: No. 24 Illinois 38, Northwestern 34 - Illinois leads after 20 minutes despite Cockburn only getting two field goal attempts and Northwestern leading 16-12 in the paint. Trent Frazier has been incredibly active today (11 points, three assists, two rebounds).
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ILLINI TIMEOUT - 16:32 left - No. 24 Illinois 44, Northwestern 42 - Illinois is out of sync defensively today and look like a team that has been on a 6-day break. Beran with 15 points today and Illinois is only 5 of 15 from 3-point range.
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MEDIA TIMEOUT - 11:46 left - No. 24 Illinois 50, Northwestern 49 - After a very active first half, Giorgi Bezhanishvili has a Mark Titus Hall of Fame second half box score. No points, No rebounds, No assists, No fouls, Five minutes.
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NORTHWESTERN/MEDIA TIMEOUT - 7:49 left - No. 24 Illinois 60, Northwestern 58 - Both teams are shooting a combined 50 percent from the field and neither team can get a critical spot on the defensive end yet. Northwestern has four players in double figures.
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NORTHWESTERN TIMEOUT - 5:03 left - No. 24 Illinois 67, Northwestern 58 - Welcome to the second half Giorgi. The sophomore forward has been more than solid on both ends of the floor culminating with a 3-pointer to get the State Farm Center alive.
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MEDIA TIMEOUT - 3:49 left - No. 24 Illinois 67, Northwestern 60 - Illinois has now gone to its closer offense - let Ayo create at the top of the key. Short of the loss to Miami (Fla.) it's fool proof for the Illini so far.
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NORTHWESTERN TIMEOUT - 44.8 left - No. 24 Illinois 71, Northwestern 68 - Illinois gets a couple of stops but Northwestern gets a critical three in transition. Does Collins pressure and then foul to extend the game or try to get a stop here?
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ILLINI TIMEOUT - 7.7 left - No. 24 Illinois 73, Northwestern 71 - Northwestern gets another 3-pointer from the wing and Illinois must now in-bound the ball from under its basket.