The Wildcats were on fire from behind the arc in the first half; forwards Luka Mirkovic and John Shurna combined to score 11 points off three treys and some change. Wildcats averaged 46.2 percent from three-point range, and 47.8 percent overall.

Mirkovic rounded out his 14-point performance with four assists and 12 rebounds.

Somebody had to pick up the slack as the Wildcats leading scorer Craig Moore started poorly; he sunk only one shot the entire half. He was held to three points in the first half and eight for the entire game, an oddity considering his six three-pointers against Iowa last week.

The ‘Cats got out of their usual zone defense and played the match-up in man coverage for the majority of the game. Their defense proved effective; ultimately, their offense underperformed down the stretch.

The Wildcat defense forced the Illini out of their comfort zone around the perimeter. At times, the Illini hesitated to take shots; at others, they were unable to pull the trigger.

Illinois hurt themselves throughout the game with their ineffectiveness from the free-throw line. Forward Mike Davis went 0-4 from the line in the first half. Despite Northwestern’s effectiveness on defense, a 9-4 run by the Illini tied the game at 20 with 6:38 to play. Down the stretch, the missed free throws would be the difference in the score at halftime. Northwestern led 31-25, and Illinois missed five free throws that would have kept the score to a one-point difference.

The Illini continued their ineptitude at the free throw line in the second period, settling for two points off seven attempts. The Illini hit an average of 74.1 percent of their free-throw shots; on Thursday, they shot 16.7 percent.

The Wildcats went on an 18-6 run that consumed more than 10 minutes of the second half. Their run was driven by a string of fouls that the Illini seemed unable to control. The game seemed all but over after a jump shot by Kevin Coble put the Wildcats up 59-50 with 2:22 to play.

However, Northwestern lost their composure long enough for the Illini to smell blood in the water. It wasn’t long before the Wildcats led by just one point with 42 seconds left. In the last five minutes, Moore had two fouls and three turnovers, leading the Illini to end the game on 17-2 run of their own.

“We played for 39 and a half minutes,” lamented Coble. “The last 30 seconds got away from us.”

Their mistakes began mounting when they took their foot off the accelerator and started playing keep-away, instead of continuing their attack. The Wildcats moved the ball around the perimeter to kill the clock, but managed to pass the ball one-too-many times on three occasions that resulted in the turnovers, allowing the Illini back in the game.

“We gave them some life, and they took advantage of it,” remarked ‘Cats coach Bill Carmody.

The Illini switched to a full-court press in a final attempt to squeeze out the win, and succeeded in forcing several mistakes from key players. Coach Carmody attributed to their collapse down the stretch on mental lapses by the team’s leaders, saying: “Our veterans didn’t handle [the pressure] well, I think.”

“We found a way to win a game we probably shouldn’t have won,” said Illinois coach Bruce Weber. “My heart goes out to [Coach Carmody] and his team because I thought they were much more ready to play than we were.”

This ends Northwestern’s impressive run of beating ranked teams this year. The Wildcats’ last seven games are all in-Conference; they will be playing Michigan at home in Evanston this Sunday.

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