D.J. Richardson scored 18 points and Illinois opened up a big first-half lead that buried Purdue 79-59 on Wednesday night.
The win was the third straight for Illinois (18-8, 5-7 Big Ten), which is clawing its way back into the postseason picture. The other wins were resume-builders over No. 1 Indiana and then-No. 18 Minnesota.
A dunk by Tyler Griffey with 8:46 remaining put Illinois up 64-46. The margin was too much for a Boilermakers team that had already tried to dig out of a 16-point first-half hole.
Griffey scored 12 points and Joseph Bertrand had a career-high 12 rebounds.
Terone Johnson led Purdue (12-13, 5-7) with 18 points. Boilermakers coach Matt Painter was ejected for arguing with officials with just over eight minutes to play.
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Friday, March 22 2013 10:58 PM EDT2013-03-23 02:58:05 GMT
Brandon Paul and D.J. Richardson made consecutive 3-pointers to give Illinois the lead with 6 minutes left and the seventh-seeded Illini pulled out a tough 57-49 win over Colorado.
Brandon Paul and D.J. Richardson made consecutive 3-pointers to give Illinois the lead with 6 minutes left and the seventh-seeded Illini pulled out a tough 57-49 win over Colorado.
Sunday, April 28 2013 5:27 PM EDT2013-04-28 21:27:09 GMT
The Big Ten conference is going with "East" and "West" instead and switching to a nine-game scheduling format after presidents and chancellors approved the moves on Sunday.
The Big Ten conference is going with "East" and "West" instead and switching to a nine-game scheduling format after presidents and chancellors approved the moves on Sunday.
