While the glitz and glam of NBA All-Star weekend was in full effect on Saturday night, a slightly uglier affair took place in Evanston, Illinois.

Trailing by two with one possession remaining, Malcolm Hill drove to his left and stopped on a dime to splash a step-back jumper, with a foul. The Illini bench rejoiced as their captain headed to line for the potential game-winning free throw — until the referee waved off the basket to declare the foul on the floor.

With just two seconds to attempt another game-tying shot, Hill lost the ball on the right wing. Game over.

Illinois (11-14, 3-9 Big Ten) and Northwestern (17-9, 5-8) went blow for blow in a gritty, low-scoring Big Ten bout, and the Wildcats escaped with a 58-56 win.

Hill’s head hung low as he walked off the court defeated but the junior captain put together a valiant all-around effort with seven points, nine boards and eight assists, the first time he’s failed to score in double digits all season.

Junior Kendrick Nunn guard led the Illini with 13 points on 5-of-11 shooting and nailed a clutch three to bring the Illini within two with under a minute remaining in the contest.

Nunn’s counterpart was the difference maker, though.

Northwestern guard Tre Demps took over the end of the second half. The senior scorer drilled four consecutive threes on his way to a personal 12-3 run to put the Wildcats up by six, which got the fans at Welsh-Ryan Arena into a game that was slow going up to that point.

From then on, a wave of momentum swung in Northwestern’s favor, and the Illini couldn’t pull their heads back above water.

As evident by the final score, neither team particularly lit it up on the offensive end. Illinois clung to a 23-21 lead at the end of a first half that saw a combined 17 turnovers. It took over 10 minutes for both teams to break double digits.

More balls found the bottom of the net in the second half as each team traded punches for the final 20 minutes. Neither side led by more than five, and any time either squad began to pull ahead, the other always seemed to creep back with a three or back-to-back buckets.

Freshmen Jalen Coleman-Lands and D.J. Williams each stepped up in the close affair, combining for six makes from beyond the arc. Williams’ 20 minutes was a career high.

Illinois is now 5-6 in games decided by five points or fewer.

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@joeyfigueroa3