PHOENIX – Just as it had its chances against No. 23 Maryland earlier in the week, the Illinois basketball team had a victory in sight against No. 16 Arizona.

Although Arizona couldn’t find a way to stop Illinois in the first half, the Wildcats adapted and took an 84-72 decision in front of a crowd of 15,507 at the U.S. Airways Center in Phoenix.

“I was proud of our guys,” coach Bruce Weber said. “We’ve had trouble starting games, and I thought we did a much better job of starting today and setting the tempo of the game early.”

The Illini (7-2) shot 54.8 percent from the field on 17-of-31 shooting in the first half, but the momentum in the second half quickly changed when three Illinois players picked up fouls in the first 2:30 of play. Two fouls were charged to senior Warren Carter in that time, and he had to go to the bench saddled with four fouls with 17:31 to play.

Carter led the Illini with a career-high 24 points, to go along with 10 rebounds, while Shaun Pruitt and Chester Frazier added 11 points. Freshman forward Chase Budinger led the Wildcats with 22 points.