Illinois (20-11, 12-8) hosted No. 18 Purdue (21-10, 13-7) for senior night and the regular season finale on Friday in Champaign. It wasn’t pretty at times, but the Illini pulled out a gritty win over the Boilermakers, 88-80. It was Illinois’ first win over Purdue since 2021 and its third straight win to end the regular season.
Illini start solid
The Illini came out strong from the opening tip, finding multiple ways to score. The Illini’s first offensive play of the game showcased junior guard Tre White, who snatched an offensive rebound and went to the free-throw line. Head coach Brad Underwood has made offensive boards a major focus, which was evident on the first play of the game, even though it didn’t necessarily continue later on.
Ball movement was also key as sophomore center Tomislav Ivišić worked on moving the ball from the top of the key. He found junior guard Kylan Boswell in the paint, who immediately kicked it out to White for a corner three. Ivišić showed his skill as a passer again moments later, finding freshman guard Will Riley, who curled around and cut past Ivišić for a layup.
The Ivišić-Riley connection was also on display later in the first half, as Riley received another pass from the big man, this time for a cheer-inducing two-handed dunk.
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A Riley three-pointer at the 13:47 mark put the Illini up by seven, their largest lead of the first half. However, the momentum shifted soon after.
Boilermakers’ boiling hot run disrupts Illini
A 15-2 Purdue run in the middle of the first half put a wrench in Illinois’ solid start. The Illini struggled to score during an almost five-minute stretch, going 1-8 from the field. Four straight buckets from the Boilermakers helped them capitalize on the Illini’s struggles. Illinois was up 17-10, but Purdue got back in the game, leading 25-19 with just under nine minutes to go.
Purdue stayed in control for most of the rest of the first half, not giving up the lead. Junior forward Trey Kaufman-Renn, who had 13 first-half points on 6-11 shooting, was a major part of that effort. He also chipped in four rebounds.
However, the first half did end on a high note for the Illini. Riley hit a big three-pointer as the clock ran out, cutting the Purdue lead to two headed into the break.
“I feel like the fans are the reason we came here,” Riley said. “They get us going … That shot just gave us a lot of energy coming into the second half, for sure.”
Illinois hits back hard
Purdue opened the second half and made Illinois look lifeless. The Boilermakers, at one point, led by 10 points. The Illini, besides Boswell — who was aggressive in getting to the rim and getting to the free-throw line — couldn’t buy a shot or a good sequence of plays. That all changed midway through the final 20 minutes.
A 10-0 run by the Illini got the crowd on their feet after an underwhelming first leg of the second half. In just over two minutes, Ivišić banged in a triple, Riley made a jumper and a layup and White drained a corner three. The run tied the game up at 63 a piece with 8:45 remaining.
The Illini took the lead just over a minute later with a big-time corner three from graduate student Ben Humrichous. State Farm Center erupted after the shot from the senior night honoree, who gave the Illini their first lead of the second half.
Crunch time
Humrichous drilled his second three of the night just as the clock dipped below two minutes, prompting a Purdue timeout and a big chest bump from White. The Illini were within striking distance of the Boilermakers, trailing by one with 1:55 remaining.
Purdue had multiple shot attempts in the next play, but Illinois played tough defense. Humrichous was tough on Kaufman-Renn, who was called for a loose ball foul, sending the Evansville transfer to the free-throw line. Humrichous knocked down one of two, tying the game once again with 1:12 to go.
“Ben’s fighting,” Underwood said. “We weren’t overly excited going in, I’ll be honest, about him having to guard Kaufman-Renn for long periods of time, but man, he was terrific.”
Purdue had the ball back, but not for long. A steal from Riley and a dagger stepback three from freshman guard Kasparas Jakučionis put the Illini up by three in dramatic fashion.
“I thought Will Riley made the defensive play of the night with a little stab-poke away that we’ve been working on,” Underwood said.
The Champaign crowd was rowdy and on their feet for their squad, who was finally figuring it out in the final moments. The Illini, who haven’t scored well from deep all year, shot 37% from beyond the arc on Friday night, proving that when they get hot, they are tough to stop.
The Boilermakers were forced to foul with under 30 seconds remaining, and Riley knocked down a pair of free throws, extending the home team lead to five. That all but ended it, with the two teams trading free-throw attempts in the final seconds.
Boswell hyped up the Orange Krush as the senior students in the crowd witnessed their first victory over Purdue during their time on campus. Despite Purdue outplaying Illinois in the paint for most of the game behind Kaufman-Renn’s 29 points, the Illini were physically tougher in the final minutes, helping them secure an eight-point senior night victory on a 13-1 closing run.
“I feel like, at the beginning of the season, we were kind of shaken up and rattled during those last moments, but this game, we stood together and just carried over what we’ve been doing in practice,” White said.
White finished with 20 points on 7-9 shooting, and Riley had 22 on 50% shooting from the field in 37 minutes.
Postseason implications
The Illini secured a No. 7 seed in the Big Ten tournament with their win on Friday. They’ll get a first-round bye and open tournament play on Thursday night in Indianapolis against either the No. 10 or No. 15 seed.
“We can’t get content right now,” White said. “This was a great win, but there’s still so much more basketball, and that’s where we want to be, you know. Playing one of the last teams at the end of this.”
White and Underwood noted after the game that the team’s confidence was at a season-high following the win. Illinois has notched three straight major wins, including two ranked victories, following a long stretch of adversity in January and February where it didn’t look like itself.
“We had to get punched,” Underwood said. “To be honest with you, we got smacked pretty good in New York. So they bounced back … That’s who we want everybody in our program to be — a guy that gets up off the mat when you get knocked down.”
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