Wildcats claw past Illini

CHAMPAIGN – Northwestern’s formula for Sunday’s 74-70 win against Illinois was familiar: stick to a guard-heavy six-man rotation, and hit open shots.

Three days after Wildcats coach Bill Carmody unveiled a new lineup that had John Shurna playing with four guards in an 84-74 home win against Nebraska, the same group led Northwestern to back-to-back wins in Big Ten play for the first time this season.

Shurna led four Northwestern players in double figures with 24 points, and the Wildcats were able to exploit defensive matchups to shoot 60 percent from the floor.

“Coach feels like it gives us a big opportunity, and I think it opens the floor up a little bit for us,” Shurna said of the lineup. “Everyone is able to make plays. It causes some mismatches.”

Reggie Hearn added 20 points on 7 of 8 shooting for the Wildcats (14-8, 4-6), while Dave Sobolewski scored 14 points and Drew Crawford had 13 for Northwestern.

Brandon Paul scored 22 points and Meyers Leonard had 21 points and nine rebounds for Illinois (16-7, 5-5). Leonard was 10 of 12 from the field, making his first nine shots. Sterling native Joseph Bertrand had 12 points, four rebounds and two assists before fouling out.

Northwestern looked to attack the defensive mismatches, especially early on, and Hearn provided the spark.

“He had the game of a lifetime, and sometimes that’s what you need to go on the road and win,” Illinois coach Bruce Weber said.

Northwestern’s offensive play carried over from the Nebraska game, in which the Wildcats knocked down 14 3-pointers with the same six-man rotation to end a three-game losing streak.

“Anytime you can get a win on the road in the Big Ten, it’s great,” Shurna said. “There are no easy games in the Big Ten. This is a big win for us. I think everyone really contributed.”

With Illinois playing Paul, who is 6-foot-4, on Shurna to attempt to slow the Big Ten’s leading scorer, the 7-foot-1 Leonard was forced to guard the 6-foot-4 Hearn.

Hearn scored 16 points in the first half, including four 3-pointers, as he was able to repeatedly get away from Leonard. Hearn had previously only had seven 3-pointers in the first nine conference games, but made three over Leonard in the first eight minutes on Sunday.