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LIVE: FINAL: No. 12 Illinois 81, Northwestern 56; Illini Outscores Wildcats 53-13 in Second Half

No. 12 Illinois (8-3, 4-1) will play at Northwestern (6-3, 3-2) with tip time being 8 p.m. CST at Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston.
Matthew Stevens|
LIVE: FINAL: No. 12 Illinois 81, Northwestern 56; Illini Outscores Wildcats 53-13 in Second Half
LIVE: FINAL: No. 12 Illinois 81, Northwestern 56; Illini Outscores Wildcats 53-13 in Second Half

Good evening as we're coming to you live from the Illini Now/Sports Illustrated where No. 12 Illinois (8-3, 4-1) will play at Northwestern (6-3, 3-2) with tip time being 8 p.m. CST at Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston.

We're about an hour from the opening tip.

NOTE: Please join us as we live-blog and discuss the Illini 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. You can log in with Facebook or Google and either way, it's free. That's right...IT'S FREE. From there, sound off in the comment section and share your reactions and observations with our staff and fellow members of the Illini Now/Sports Illustrated community as we keep you up to date of the game in real-time.

Game 12: No. 12 Illinois at Northwestern

Date/Time/Place: Thursday, Jan. 7, 2020: 8 p.m. CST, Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston, Ill.

Capacity: N/A (NO FANS!)

Records: Illinois 8-3 overall, 4-1 in Big Ten Conference; 21–10 overall, 13–7 in Big Ten Conference in 2019-20 season. Northwestern 6-3 overall, 3-2 in Big Ten Conference; 8-23 overall, 3-17 in Big Ten Conference in 2019-20 season. 

Line: Illinois by 6

Series notes: Illinois leads the all-time series 138-42 and leads 63-28 in Evanston. Illinois currently holds a four-game winning streak over the Wildcats. In its last game at Welsh-Ryan Arena, Illinois took home a 74-66 win thanks to Ayo Dosunmu and Kofi Cockburn accounting for 57 of Illinois’ 74 points and 27 of its 42 rebounds. The Illini secured its 11th Big Ten win to secure its first league record above .500 since 2010.

TV: BTN; Kevin Kugler (PBP), Brian Butch (analyst)

Radio (Illinois): Brian Barnhart (PBP), Deon Thomas (analyst).

Projected Starters:

Illinois

Ayo Dosunmu - G

Trent Frazier - G

Adam Miller - G

Da'Monte Williams - G

Kofi Cockburn - C

Northwestern

Boo Buie - G

Chase Audige - G

Miller Kopp - G/F

Robbie Beran - F

Pete Nance - C

NOTES:

  • No. 12 Illinois carries a three-game winning streak into Thursday night's contest at Northwestern.• Illinois ranks sixth in kenpom offensive efficiency. That is the program's highest rating since the 2005 NCAA Runner-Up squad had the nation's No. 3 offense.• Illinois' three losses came away from home to teams currently ranked in the top 15 with a combined record of 23-5.• Leading the Illini is first-team All-America candidate Ayo Dosunmu. Owning numbers of 23.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 5.0 assists per game, Dosunmu is the only player in the nation averaging at least 20 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists this season.• Kofi Cockburn ranks second in the NCAA with seven double-doubles on the year. He has registered double-doubles in four of five Big Ten contests and is averaging 20.4 points and 11.2 boards in league play.• Dosunmu and Cockburn are the fourth-highest scoring duo in the nation, combining for 39.9 points per game.• Freshman Andre Curbelo leads the Big Ten in assists during league play at 6.6 assists per game.
  •  Da'Monte Williams leads the nation in 3-point shooting (min. 20 attempts), connecting on 19-of-28 for 67.9 percent.
  • Illinois is off to a 4-1 start in Big Ten play for the first time since 2012.

UNIFORM UPDATE:

Illinois will be in the throwback orange 'Fighting Illini' uniforms with the number in the middle across the chest. 

Media Timeout (14:50 left in 1st): No. 12 Illinois 12, Northwestern 6 - Illinois post players (Cockburn and Giorgi) getting post touches whenever they want and have combined for 5 points and 2 rebounds. Illinois is 4 of 4 on 2-point field goals. Northwestern has missed last four shots.  

LIVE BLOG: Media Timeout (11:46 left in 1st): Northwestern 15, No. 12 Illinois 13 - Illinois hasn't hit a field goal in over three minutes and Northwestern has hit its last four shots. Adam Miller off to another troubling start (0 for 2 3pt) but Northwestern having early foul issues. 

LIVE BLOG: Media Timeout (7:46 left in 1st): Northwestern 28, No. 12 Illinois 22 - Ayo Dosunmu gets his second foul and will likely be on the bench for the remainder of this first half. After an easy bucket on it, Northwestern's 3-2 zone has been really effective. Wildcats already have 12 points int he paint (Illinois has 10). 

LIVE BLOG: Media Timeout (3:30 left in 1st): Northwestern 35, No. 12 Illinois 27 - Really costly turnovers (8 total) for the Illini are making the offense look slow and confusing with Dosunmu on the bench. Gaines, Young and Nance all with 7 points for Northwestern. 

LIVE BLOG: HALFTIME: Northwestern 43, No. 12 Illinois 28 - Northwestern outscores Illinois 41-20 over the final 16 minutes of this half. Illinois is 1 for its last 8 from the field while also having four turnovers in the last 5:08. Illini have 11 turnovers in this half. Eight different Northwestern players have scored and none of them are Boo Buie. 

LIVE: Northwestern Timeout (18:22 left): Northwestern 43, No. 12 Illinois 36 - Illinois' 2nd half 8-0 start so far: Williams takes a charge; Frazier hits a 3; Cockburn with a 3-point play; Dosunmu runner in the lane Northwestern has to take a timeout. WOW.

LIVE: Media Timeout (15:20 left): Northwestern 45, No. 12 Illinois 38 - Illini on a 10-2 run to start this second half and if some shots in the lane would've fallen, it could've been a bigger margin. Illinois still just 4 of 17 from 3-point range. 

LIVE: Media Timeout (11:16 left): No. 12 Illinois 53, Northwestern 48 - Illinois has outscored Northwestern 25-5 and Kofi Cockburn (14 pts, 8 rebs) starting to establish that nobody on the Wildcats roster can handle him in the post or on the glass. 

LIVE: Media Timeout (7:57 left): No. 12 Illinois 56, Northwestern 48 - Northwestern is 1 of 14 from the floor with eight turnovers in this half. Ayo Dosunmu nearly put Miller Kopp on a poster and will have two FTs coming out of this break. 

LIVE: Northwestern Timeout (3:49 left): No. 12 Illinois 73, Northwestern 54 - In a game where Illinois was down by as much as 16 and 15 aft the half, the Illini have outscored Northwestern 45-11 in this second half. Ayo Dosunmu 15 points, five assists and four rebounds. 

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Matthew Stevens
MATTHEW STEVENS

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