Brian Cook scored 16 of his 22 points in the second half as No. 18 Illinois beat Purdue 75-62 Wednesday night to snap the Boilermakers’ six-game winning streak.
Illinois (13-3, 3-2 Big Ten) outscored the Boilermakers 18-6 over the final 6:46 after leading most of the game.
Cook, the Big Ten’s leading scorer at 21 points a game, had just two field goals and six points in the first half.
He was guarded most of the game by Chris Booker and had difficulty getting open, fumbling the ball when he did. Cook had four first-half turnovers.
He was more assertive in the second half and so was Illinois.
The Illini worked the ball down low to Cook, who scored his first two baskets of the half on nifty post moves before getting into foul trouble.
Willie Deane led Purdue (11-4, 3-1) with 14 points on 3-of-11 shooting .
