Illinois Basketball: 3 observations from the Illini win over Purdue

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WEST LAFAYETTE, IN – JANUARY 21: Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Brad Underwood points across the court during the Big Ten Conference college basketball game between the Illinois Fighting Illini and the Purdue Boilermakers on January 21, at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

The Illinois basketball team went on the road in the Big Ten and managed to come away with a double-digit victory over Purdue.

Yes, that first sentence is not a typo. Illinois went to West Lafayette and put a beat down on the formerly ranked Purdue Boilermakers for the second time this season. This wasn’t always an ugly game on the scoreboard, though.

The Illini were able to get off to a quick 10-5 lead, but Purdue would fight back and narrow the margin. With 10 minutes to go until halftime, the score was tied 14-14. Illinois was able to break that tie with a big three-pointer from Trent Frazier. The Boilermakers would fight back again and tie it up at 22-22 with five minutes remaining in the first half.

At this point in the game, Purdue kind of had some momentum. The Boilermakers were able to get the Illini in some foul trouble, and this helped them in the paint. Purdue ended up snagging the lead over Illinois at halftime, 30-29.

Illinois came out firing in the second half, though. We were able to grab the lead back with an 8-0 run. That was honestly it for Purdue. They couldn’t recover from that seven-point lead the Illini were able to obtain. The first double-digit lead for the Orange and Blue came at the 13:33 mark. With five minutes to go in the game, we still had an 11-point lead. The final horn blew and the scored showed the Illini beating Purdue 79-62.

Here are three observations from the Illini win over Purdue.

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