Northwestern met with a major reality check in loss to Illinois

In recent years, the Northwestern-Illinois rivalry has been described as contentious. Both teams have split their season series the past three years, and NU fans vividly remember the ‘Cats memorable triumph over the Fighting Illini last season at Welsh-Ryan Arena.

Northwestern’s demoralizing 84-44 road loss to No. 5 Illinois not only broke that trend by stamping Illinois’s season sweep of the Wildcats, it also enters the history books as one of the biggest routs in this historic, 100+ year rivalry.

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It was also one of the worst losses under head coach Chris Collins, who offered a blunt assessment of Wednesday night’s performance.

“They’re, they’re a vastly superior team to us,” Collins said. “They have better players, they’re better coached, they’re just a better team than us this year.”

Northwestern’s stagnant offense played a large part in the blowout. Collins said his team “lacked offensive authority” when shooting just 29% from the field and an atrocious 4-of-25 from deep. Northwestern went to the line just twice all game, and one of those was because of a self-inflicted technical foul by Illinois.

“Just one of those nights where we couldn’t make anything,” Collins said. “So when that happens, it’s going to be, it’s going to be a final score like you saw.”

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A raucous environment at State Farm Arena certainly posed challenges for a young ‘Cats squad. Illinois stormed out of the gate with a high-powered offense and aggressive play on the glass, and NU was playing catch-up from the get-go. A 24-4 run by Illinois, plus the ‘Cats starting the first half 5-of-28 from the field and scoring just one bucket in over 10 minutes, dug Northwestern a big hole early.

When playing against a vaunted opponent like Illinois, setting a strong tone early is critical. Collins said some of his younger players play more hesitantly after struggling to score in the initial minutes, which contributes to a stagnant offense that…

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Publish date : 2026-02-05 19:59:00

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