No. 9 Illinois’ livid late rally comes up simply brief in an 83-78 loss to No. 1 Purdue

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — If his workforce was going to lose, coach Brad Underwood wished to ensure it was somebody apart from Zach Edey who beat Illinois on Friday evening.

In order that’s precisely what Trey Kaufman-Renn did.

The redshirt sophomore scored a season-high 23 factors, Lance Jones added 17 and No. 1 Purdue fended off a frantic late cost from the ninth-ranked Illini for an 83-78 victory.

“Trey Kaufman-Renn, man, I simply instructed him on the market within the corridor he kicked our butt,” Underwood stated. “I feel if you play Zach, you possibly can’t play regular. You need to attempt to make different gamers beat you, and I feel there’s some threat with that and we noticed that tonight.”

Kaufman-Renn made 8 of 12 pictures, together with a uncommon 3-pointer to briefly blunt Illinois because it was attempting to erase a 21-point deficit within the closing 13 minutes. The Boilermakers (14-1, 3-1 Massive Ten) bought their seventh straight win, this one within the first top-10 matchup at Mackey Area since Jan. 1, 2010.

“I believed he was fabulous,” Purdue coach Matt Painter stated. “He’s most likely the distinction for us tonight.”

Edey, the reigning nationwide participant of the 12 months, spent the final eight minutes of every half in foul hassle. However as a lot as Illinois tried to disclaim him, Edey nonetheless wound up with 10 factors and 15 rebounds whereas changing into the second Purdue participant with 1,000 profession boards. Solely Joe Barry Carroll has greater than Edey’s 1,006.

Marcus Domask had 26 factors and Quincy Guerrier completed with 18 factors and 10 rebounds for the Illini (11-3, 2-1), who had received 4 in a row. They misplaced for the primary time since prime scorer Terrence Shannon Jr. was suspended after being charged with rape in Douglass County, Kan.

The Illini by no means led and dropped to 0-9 towards No. 1 groups on the street.

However after falling behind 20-4, preventing again inside three after which trailing by 21 with about 13 minutes left, Illinois made it fascinating.

The Illini took benefit of a flagrant foul towards Jones following a replay assessment to chop it to 81-75. They bought inside 81-78 when Coleman Hawkins made a 3 with 12.1 seconds to go, however Braden Smith answered with two free throws to seal it.

Illinois: Mackey Area has been a home of horrors for the Illini. That was nonetheless the case — even after they got here in having topped 90 factors in three straight video games for the primary time since December 1993. Illinois is 3-16 on the street when Purdue is ranked and 1-5 when each groups are within the prime 10.

Purdue: Painter’s workforce is ranked No. 1 for good purpose — the Boilermakers had three wins towards top-10 foes. Including a fourth Friday matched the 2009-11 groups for the perfect 50-game stretch (43-7) at school historical past.

Illinois: Performs hosts Michigan State on Thursday.

Purdue: Visits Nebraska on Tuesday.