No. 3 Purdue rallies past No. 12 Illinois, wins outright Big Ten title

Field Level Media|published: Tue 5th March, 21:17 2024

Purdue Boilermakers center Zach Edey (15) dunks the ball over Illinois Fighting Illini guard Niccolo Moretti (11), Illinois Fighting Illini forward Coleman Hawkins (33) and Illinois Fighting Illini guard Luke Goode (10) during the NCAA men s basketball game, Tuesday, March 5, 2024, at State Farm Center in Champaign, Ill. credits: Alex Martin/Journal and Courier / USA TODAY NETWORK

Once again, Purdue stands alone atop the Big Ten.

Zach Edey poured in 28 points with eight rebounds as the No. 3 Boilermakers rallied for a 77-71 victory over No. 12 Illinois Tuesday night in Champaign, Ill., to clinch their second straight outright regular-season title.

Fletcher Loyer contributed 16 points — including seven straight in the final four minutes after Illinois regained a two-point lead — while Braden Smith added 13 points and six assists and Mason Gillis posted 10 points and six boards for the Boilermakers (27-3, 16-3).

After going just 1 of 6 from 3-point range in the first half, Purdue drilled 8 of 10 attempts from long range after halftime to become the Big Ten's first back-to-back champs since Ohio State in 2006-07.

Marcus Domask paced Illinois (22-8, 13-6) with 20 points. Coleman Hawkins recorded 13 points, Quincy Guerrier had 12 and Terrence Shannon Jr. finished with 11 on 3-of-13 shooting. The Illini led by as many as 10 points in the first half, but they shot just 36 percent in the second half and missed all six of their 3-point tries.

Illinois started hot with all five starters scoring in the first five minutes to forge an 11-6 lead, but Shannon picked up his second foul reaching in on Edey at the 11:35 mark and sat for most of the rest of the first half.

In his absence, Guerrier, Domask and Hawkins took turns filling it up. Domask attacked the basket for three short shots, then Guerrier buried his third 3-pointer of the half to give Illinois a 35-26 mark with four minutes to go.

Illinois carried a 40-34 lead into the break despite Edey's 18-point effort — usually against just one defender. In the second half, Illinois started doubling down on Edey, so he promptly fed Smith and Loyer for 3-pointers.

The Illini dropped that idea and Edey resumed posting up for scores. When Gillis drilled a 3-pointer in transition with 10:11 to go, Purdue took its first lead at 56-54.

Gillis cashed another 3-pointer to push Purdue's margin to 64-58 with seven minutes to play, but Illinois responded with eight straight points. That set the stage for Loyer to reel off seven points in a row — cashing a 3-pointer, a jumper and two free throws — to give Purdue the lead for good.

—Field Level Media

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