The Illinois men’s basketball team entered Saturday’s regular season finale against Purdue needing a win going into the Big Ten tournament. 

Led by junior guard Rapheal Davis’ team-high 18 points, the Boilermakers defeated the Illini 63-58. 

Saturday was Purdue’s senior day, but its offense ran through the hands of both Davis and fellow junior, center AJ Hammons. 

Going into the game, both teams sat firmly on the NCAA tournament bubble. A win had similar implications for two teams desperately seeking a ticket to the big dance. 

Illinois head coach John Groce said he didn’t like the his players’ effort.

“Individually, I thought Rice and Egwu had it today,” Groce said. “I just didn’t feel the other guys were NBA All-Stars in their roles at all for us today.”

After an opening bucket by Hammons, the Illini scored 15-straight points, quieting the rowdy Boilermaker faithful. For most of the first half, Purdue didn’t put up much of a fight. 

In the closing minutes of the first half, Purdue went on a scoring run that brought the score to 26-21 at halftime. 

Groce credited Purdue guard P.J. Thompson as the difference-maker. 

“P.J. Thompson changed the game, totally changed the game,” Groce said. “It changed the energy level of the building, changed the energy level of his team. I thought he was the difference in the first and second half.”

Thompson’s three steals kept Purdue within striking distance at the end of the first half. 

Both the Illini and the Boilermakers came out of the half looking like completely different teams. Illinois’ hot shooting turned cold, and Purdue’s started to hit the shots it missed in the first half.

Senior Rayvonte Rice led all scorers with 25 points, but without much contribution from his teammates, the Illini never regained the lead.  

Once the Boilermakers started feeding Hammons in the post, they found more success on offense. Hammons finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds. 

In the teams’ previous meeting this season, the Purdue big man was held to  eight points and seven rebounds. 

Purdue’s success this season has been directly connected with the individual success of Hammons, and his presence was felt Saturday. 

The Boilermakers maintained their second-half lead in large part due to the effort of junior guard Rapheal Davis. 

Davis scored 17 of his 18 points and was perfect from beyond the arc in the second half. 

Illinois’ second-half shooting struggles continued throughout the entirety of the second half. With about four minutes left, sophomore guard Kendrick Nunn missed an uncontested layup that would have cut Purdue’s lead to nine. 

Nunn continued his scoring struggles — he shot 2-for-12 from the field and 1-for-7 from three. In his last five games, Nunn has shot only 20 percent from beyond the arc.

He wasn’t alone in his cold shooting. The Illini shot 34 percent overall and 21 percent from three. 

Illinois’ captain Nnanna Egwu said his team’s positivity can make or break its season.

“We can’t hang our heads, we’re going to lose overall if we hang our heads,” Egwu said. “The best thing to do now is to hold our heads high and look forward to our next game.”

The Illini head to Chicago next week for the Big Ten tournament and are in line to play the Michigan Wolverines on Thursday. 

[email protected]

@Sam_Sherman5