No. 5 Illinois makes 17 3-pointers, beats Northwestern 84-44 for 12th straight win

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — Andrej Stojakovic scored 17 points and No. 5 Illinois made 17 3-pointers in an 84-44 win over Northwestern on Wednesday night.

Keaton Wagler, Zvonimir Ivisic and Ben Humrichous each had 13 points for Illinois (20-3, 11-1 Big Ten), which won its 12th straight game. David Mirkovic had 12 points and Tomislav Ivisic had 12 rebounds.

Six players made 3s for Illinois, which shot 17 of 38 from behind the arc.

Wagler, whose 19th birthday was Tuesday, has scored in double figures in 15 straight games and 20 times this season.

He banked in a 3 from halfcourt with four seconds left the first half, giving Illinois a 47-19 lead at halftime.

Northwestern (10-13, 2-10), which shot 29% from the field including 4 of 25 on 3-pointers, did not have a player score in double figures.

Nick Martinelli, the Big Ten’s leading scorer, had just four points, 19 under his average. He was 2 of 10 from the field while playing 27 minutes. Tre Singleton led the Wildcats with eight points.

The Illini outrebounded Northwestern 50-23. They’ve outrebounded teams in 20 of 23 games, with an 18-2 record in those games.

Illinois has made at least 10 3s in a game a Big Ten-leading 17 times. The Illini are 15-2 in those games.

The Illini have won 10 in a row at home against Northwestern since 2015 and are 76-14 overall against the Wildcats at the State Farm Center.

Illinois beat Northwestern 79-68 in Evanston on Jan. 14, one of five straight losses for the Wildcats at the start of January.

Up next

Northwestern: Plays Sunday at Iowa.

Illinois: Plays Saturday at No. 10 Michigan State.

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