Shannon’s surge rallies Illinois past No. 21 Northwestern

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — Terrence Shannon Jr.shook off a slow start in his return from a concussion, scoring 24of his 26 points in the second half as Illinois rallied from an18-point halftime deficit to beat No. 21 Northwestern 66-62 onThursday night.

Shannon did not start and found himself back on the bench withthree fouls as Northwestern (20-8, 11-6 Big Ten) closed on a 13-2run to take a 37-19 lead into halftime.

But he picked up steam after the break and scored 15 of theIllini’s last 24 points as they erased a 14-point deficit in thefinal 10:07. His tiebreaking drive with 1:16 left put Illinois(19-9, 10-7) ahead 63-61, and he scored the team’s last five points— including a pair of free throws that sealed it with two secondsto go.

Illinois coach Brad Underwood said he was unsure Shannon wouldbe available to play until he cleared concussion protocol atshootaround.

“Terrence was electric, getting downhill, getting to the foulline,” Underwood said.

Boo Buie led Northwestern with a career-high 35 points, hittingsix 3-pointers and going 12 of 24 from the floor.

Illinois opened 0 for 11 from 3-point range before Shannonnailed two 3s early in the second half. Matthew Mayer added a 3 andhit three free throws after being fouled during a 14-1 run thatwinnowed the deficit to four with 15:06 left.

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

“I thought we got a little bit stagnant,” Northwestern coachChris Collins said. “I’ve got to do a better job helping the guyswith that.”

Shannon said he was focused entirely on shoring up the Illini’sleaky defense after the Wildcats hit eight 3-pointers in the firsthalf.

“My thought process through the end of the game was just to getstops,” Shannon said. “I didn’t really care about the offensiveend.”

Buie kept chugging away for the Wildcats after scoring 22 in thefirst half, including five 3s, by hitting his first four shotsafter halftime to push Northwestern’s lead back to 14.

“I actually thought we did a pretty good job after they hit uswith the initial burst, we got (the lead) back to 12 or 14 there,”Collins said. “Then give them credit, they came storming back. Wejust couldn’t match them offensively in the second half.”

The Wildcats were attempting to string together their secondsix-game Big Ten winning streak in the last 90 years.

Illinois climbed into a four-way tie for third place in theconference with three games left in the regular season.Northwestern remains in second but fell two games behindPurdue.

BIG PICTURE

Northwestern: The fact that a close road loss to an Illiniprogram that has dominated the Wildcats in recent years is adisappointment is a sign of major progress after Collins startedthe season on the hot seat. The winningest Big Ten regular-seasonteam in Northwestern men’s basketball history is hoping for somemagic when the calendar turns to March.

Illinois: Shannon’s return in a gritty home win to avoid aseason sweep by an in-state conference rival was a neededdevelopment for the Illini, who lack the 3-point shooting prowessof some of the nation’s premier teams. Underwood’s group hasrepeatedly dug itself early holes this season, and finally got outof one Thursday.

UP NEXT

Northwestern: Plays at Maryland on Sunday.

Illinois: Plays at Ohio State on Sunday.