NORTHWESTERN 74, ILLINOIS 70: John Shurna scored 24 points to lead Northwestern to a 74-70 road win over Illinois at Assembly Hall.

Northwestern (14-8, 4-6 Big Ten) snapped a nine-game losing skid in Champaign dating back to January 1999. Illinois (16-7, 5-5 Big Ten) fell to the Wildcats for just the third time in the last 12 meetings.

Shurna scored a layup on a backdoor cut to put Northwestern ahead by five points in the final minute of the game. He took over down the stretch in the second half, shooting 11 for 15 from the field.

Shurna passed Evan Eschmeyer for second on Northwestern’s all-time scoring list. Billy McKinney (1974–1977) is the leader with 1,900 career points.

Illinois star guard Brandon Paul buried a deep 3-pointer to cut the lead to four points with just over 30 seconds remaining. Paul went four for six from the perimeter, finishing with 22 points.

The first half was a battle of the hot hands with Northwestern’s Reggie Hearn and Illinois Meyers Leonard each going six for six from the field.

Hearn scored 10 points before the first timeout of the game and finished with 20 points on four-of-five shooting from beyond the arc.

Leonard dominated a small Wildcats frontcourt for 21 points and nine rebounds, finishing 10 for 12 from the floor.

Illinois’ last eight games have been decided by five or less points.