Hill, Nunn Lead Illinois Past No. 20 Purdue, 84-70
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — Malcolm Hill scored 30 points and Kendrick Nunn added 22 to lead Illinois past No. 20 Purdue 84-70 on Sunday.
Hill and Nunn were a combined 17 for 27 from the field for the Illini (9-8, 1-3 Big Ten).
Nunn returned after missing Thursday's loss at Michigan State for the birth of his son. He started slowly but scored 18 points in the second half. That included a nine-point run to open the half that turned a 37-all tie into a 46-37 Illinois lead.
Purdue (14-3, 2-2) was led by Caleb Swanigan and P.J. Thompson with 12 points each.
Illinois big men Michael Finke and Maverick Morgan helped hold Purdue's two 7-footers, A.J. Hammons and Isaac Haas, to a combined 16 points.
Boilermakers forward Raphael Davis fouled out with 1:49 to play. He didn't score.
With Nunn away for the birth of his son, Kason Lee, Illinois struggled at No. 5 Michigan State, falling 79-54 in a game it was never really in.
Back on the court, Nunn shook the rust of a four-point first half with the nine-point run, which included a pair of 3-pointers. The first opened the half and gave the Illini a lead they never relinquished.
Nunn nailed the second even as he was being knocked to the floor by Dakota Mathias. Nunn hit the free throw that followed, too.
He appeared to foul out with 3:36 left, only to have the officials review the play and call D.J. Williams for the foul on Vince Edwards instead.
The crowd let out a relieved cheer.
After Morgan sank a short jump shot with 7:24 to play to give Illinois a 65-53 edge, the Illini nursed a double-digit lead until the final buzzer.
Purdue presented what appeared to be a difficult matchup for Illinois, a team with its starting center, Mike Thorne Jr., out indefinitely due to injury and only two legitimate big men available, Finke and Morgan.
Morgan and Finke were assigned the task of dealing with Purdue's 7-foot, 250-pound Hammons and, off the bench, the 7-2, 282-pound Haas — not to mention the 6-9, 250-pound Swanigan.
One fan in the student section seemingly tried to will a strong game out of Morgan, an inconsistent performer in his two-plus seasons at Illinois.
"Way to go, Mav! Good defense, Mav!" the fan shouted after Morgan shut down Haas on one possession.
But instead of relying solely on the limited ability of the lean Finke and Morgan to batter the Boilermakers' big men, Illinois sent both to the perimeter and gave them the chance to shoot.
Morgan finished with four points and Finke with six, but all of Finke's points came on big 3s.
FOUL TROUBLE
The Boilermakers played with serious foul trouble in the second half. In addition to Davis, point guard Johnny Hill and forward Vince Edwards both finished with four fouls and spent significant time on the bench.
TIP-INS
Purdue: Entering the game, no team was holding opponents to a lower field goal percentage (35 percent). Illinois shot 54.2 percent, hitting 26 of its 48 attempts from the field.
Illinois: The Illini were making 36 percent of their 3-point shots coming into the game. They were 9 for 17 on Sunday (52.9 percent).
UP NEXT
Purdue hosts Penn State on Wednesday.
Illinois hosts Nebraska on Saturday.
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