Northwestern Wildcats vs Illinois Fighting Illini Box Score on Feb 23, 2023

Terrence Shannon Jr. scored 24 of his 26 points in the second half Thursday night as Illinois rallied from an 18-point halftime deficit to stop No. 21 Northwestern 66-62 in a Big Ten Conference game in Champaign, Ill.

Shannon drove for a layup with 1:16 left to snap a 61-61 tie, then sealed the outcome by making two foul shots with 2.7 seconds remaining.

Matthew Mayer added 14 points, all in the second half, as the Fighting Illini (19-9, 10-7 Big Ten) avenged a January loss to the Wildcats and stayed alive for a double-bye in next month's conference tournament.

Boo Buie starred in defeat for Northwestern (20-8, 11-6) with a game-high 35 points, canning 6 of 11 from the 3-point arc. Brooks Barnhizer scored 11.

Playing their first game as a ranked team this season, the Wildcats led 54-39 after Barnhizer hit a jumper with 10:21 left in the game, but they were outscored 27-8 the rest of the way.

Northwestern controlled most of the first half behind Buie, 3-point shooting and great defense. Buie scored eight points in the first 5:08 as the Wildcats established a 14-6 lead.

Illinois rattled off eight straight points to tie the game on a Sencire Harris jumper at the 11:33 mark, but Northwestern dominated the half's remainder as Buie made one shot after another.

Buie canned consecutive 3-pointers in a 10-1 run that made it 24-15, then closed the half with a personal 8-0 spurt over the final 3:16. His 3-pointer with 52 seconds left gave the Wildcats a 37-19 halftime lead.

--Field Level Media