National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Illinois 66, Purdue 57
When: 9:00 PM ET, Wednesday, January 21, 2015
Where: State Farm Center, Champaign, Illinois
Officials: # Pat Driscoll, # Tom Eades, # Lewis Garrison
Attendance: 12965

Illinois 66, Purdue 57: Freshman Leron Black posted his first double-double with 15 points and a season-high 13 rebounds as the host Illini downed the Boilermakers.

Malcolm Hill contributed 18 points, six rebounds and four assists for Illinois (13-7, 3-4 Big Ten), which improved to 3-2 since losing leading scorer Rayvonte Rice for approximately six weeks with a hand injury. Kendrick Nunn added 14 points and seven boards while Nnanna Egwu tallied 11 points, seven rebounds and a career-high tying five blocks for the Illini.

Jon Octeus and Rapheal Davis scored 14 points apiece for Purdue (11-8, 3-3), which has dropped 10 of its last 11 conference road games. Vince Edwards chipped in with 11 points, but the Boilermakers could not overcome a 5-of-21 effort beyond the arc or 17-point disadvantage (21-4) at the foul line.

Purdue led by as many as nine with 5½ minutes left in the opening stanza before Nunn, Hill and Black combined to score all the points for the Illini during a half-ending 15-4 surge to take a 32-30 lead into the break. Neither team could build more than a four-point edge over the first 15-plus minutes of the second half and the lead switched hands seven times until five points from Hill ignited an 8-0 run to force a timeout by the Boilermakers with 3:58 remaining.

Davis halted the run with a 3-pointer and Edwards added another triple with 1:16 left to answer four free throws from Illinois, but Black hit a critical jumper from the right baseline as the shot clock was winding down to increase the Illini advantage to 62-55 with 43 seconds to go. Egwu added a breakaway dunk moments later and Jaylon Tate sank a pair of free throws with less than 10 seconds to preserve the victory.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Purdue had won four of its previous five in Illinois. … Egwu recorded all five of his team’s blocks to give him 179 for his career, surpassing Deon Thomas (177; 1991-94) for the most in school history. … The Boilermakers have yet to hold a halftime lead in Big Ten play.
Top Game Performances
 
Purdue   Illinois
Rapheal Davis 14 Scoring Malcolm Hill 18
Vince Edwards 6 Assists Jaylon Tate 6
A.J. Hammons 7 Rebounds Leron Black 13
Vince Edwards 2 Free Throws Made Malcolm Hill 6
Jon Octeus 2 Steals Nnanna Egwu 3
A.J. Hammons 4 Blocks Nnanna Egwu 5
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Purdue 57 40.0 5-21 4-9 12 30 5 4 10
Illinois 66 35.0 3-10 21-24 13 37 5 8 9