National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Northwestern 68, Illinois 54
When: 8:15 PM ET, Thursday, January 17, 2013
Where: Assembly Hall, Champaign, Illinois
Officials: # Jim Burr, # Glenn Mayborg, # Larry Scirotto
Attendance: 16618
By SportsDirect Inc.
12.00 Northwestern 68, No. 22 Illinois 54: Reggie Hearn scored 20 points and the visiting Wildcats upended the struggling Fighting Illini in Big Ten play.

Jared Swopshire and Alex Marcotullio each added 12 points and Dave Sobolewski chipped in 10 as Northwestern (11-7, 2-3 Big Ten) led the entire contest while handing Illinois its third straight loss and fifth in seventh games.

Brandon Paul tallied 21 points and Tracy Abrams added 10 for the Fighting Illini (14-5, 1-4), who shot just 38.8 percent from the field and 3-of-20 from 3-point range.

Northwestern led by four points seven minutes into the game and used a 10-1 run to take a 25-12 lead on a layup by Tre Demps with 8:08 left in the half. The Wildcats led by as many as 17 en route to a 36-21 halftime lead.

A 3-pointer by Hearn gave Northwestern a 48-32 lead with 8:46 remaining. Illinois cut the deficit to nine with 3:41 left before the Wildcats pushed the lead back to 16 in the final minute.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Northwestern has won back-to-back games at Illinois to improve to 6-39 at Assembly Hall. … Paul has scored in double digits in 18 of Illinois’ 19 games. … The Wildcats have won four of their last five Big Ten road games dating to last season.
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Top Game Performances
 
Northwestern   Illinois
Reggie Hearn 20 Scoring Brandon Paul 21
Dave Sobolewski 6 Assists Tracy Abrams 4
Jared Swopshire 6 Rebounds Tyler Griffey 6
Reggie Hearn 9 Free Throws Made Tracy Abrams 4
Mike Turner 2 Steals Nnanna Egwu 3
N/A Blocks Nnanna Egwu 1
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Northwestern 68 47.2 8-15 26-31 10 21 0 5 15
Illinois 54 38.8 3-20 13-20 6 29 4 9 18