Shannon’s surge rallies Illinois past No. 21 Northwestern

CHAMPAIGN — Terrence Shannon Jr. shook off a sluggish begin in his return from a concussion, scoring 24 of his 26 factors within the second half as Illinois rallied from an 18-point halftime deficit to beat No. 21 Northwestern 66-62 on Thursday night time.

Shannon didn’t begin and located himself again on the bench with three fouls as Northwestern (20-8, 11-6 Large Ten) closed on a 13-2 run to take a 37-19 lead into halftime.

However he picked up steam after the break and scored 15 of the Illini’s final 24 factors as they erased a 14-point deficit within the last 10:07. His tiebreaking drive with 1:16 left put Illinois (19-9, 10-7) forward 63-61, and he scored the crew’s final 5 factors — together with a pair of free throws that sealed it with two seconds to go.

Illinois coach Brad Underwood stated he was not sure Shannon could be out there to play till he cleared concussion protocol at shootaround.

“Terrence was electrical, getting downhill, attending to the foul line,” Underwood stated.

Boo Buie led Northwestern with a career-high 35 factors, hitting six 3-pointers and going 12 of 24 from the ground.

Illinois opened 0 for 11 from 3-point vary earlier than Shannon nailed two 3s early within the second half. Matthew Mayer added a 3 and hit three free throws after being fouled throughout a 14-1 run that winnowed the deficit to 4 with 15:06 left. 

Mayer gave Illinois its first lead on two free throws with 2:36 remaining. He completed with 14 factors and eight rebounds.

“I believed we received just a little bit stagnant,” Northwestern coach Chris Collins stated. “I’ve received to do a greater job serving to the blokes with that.”

Shannon stated he was centered completely on shoring up the Illini’s leaky protection after the Wildcats hit eight 3-pointers within the first half. 

“My thought course of via the top of the sport was simply to get stops,” Shannon stated. “I didn’t actually care in regards to the offensive finish.”

Buie saved chugging away for the Wildcats after scoring 22 within the first half, together with 5 3s, by hitting his first 4 photographs after halftime to push Northwestern’s lead again to 14.

“I really thought we did a reasonably good job after they hit us with the preliminary burst, we received (the lead) again to 12 or 14 there,” Collins stated. “Then give them credit score, they got here storming again. We simply couldn’t match them offensively within the second half.”

The Wildcats have been making an attempt to string collectively their second six-game Large Ten successful streak within the final 90 years. 

Illinois climbed right into a four-way tie for third place within the convention with three video games left within the common season. Northwestern stays in second however fell two video games behind Purdue.

BIG PICTURE

Northwestern: The truth that an in depth highway loss to an Illini program that has dominated the Wildcats in recent times is a disappointment is an indication of main progress after Collins began the season on the recent seat. The winningest Large Ten regular-season crew in Northwestern males’s basketball historical past is hoping for some magic when the calendar turns to March.

Illinois: Shannon’s return in a gritty residence win to keep away from a season sweep by an in-state convention rival was a wanted growth for the Illini, who lack the 3-point taking pictures prowess of a number of the nation’s premier groups. Underwood’s group has repeatedly dug itself early holes this season, and at last received out of 1 Thursday. 

UP NEXT

Northwestern: Performs at Maryland on Sunday.

Illinois: Performs at Ohio State on Sunday.