It didn’t take Illinois coach Bill Self long to find out how much influence he wields over the rules enforcers. After complaining Saturday that Big Ten officials are calling games too tightly this season, Self heard whistles blowing all night Wednesday.
In a physical, sloppy, sluggish game in which 54 fouls were called, Illinois (12-3, 3-2 Big Ten) held off Purdue 75-62 to break a two-game losing streak and halt the Boilermakers’ six-game winning streak.
Four Illini players finished the game with four fouls and Luther Head fouled out.
“You can build from this,” Self said. “After losing two on the road and not being at your best, I’m not going to say the collar was tight, but there was pressure on us to win. And I think Purdue is really good.”
What the Boilermakers (11-4, 3-1) were best at was dominating the Illini on the offensive boards (20-10) and hitting free throws in the early going to keep it close. What they were horrible at was hitting outside shots of any kind and free throws down the stretch. Purdue, which was shooting 74 percent from the line this season, made only 21-of-32 free throws and shot 32.8 percent (19-of-58) for the game, including 28.6 percent in the second half.
“Fifty-eight shots is too many,” Purdue coach Gene Keady said. “Why did we shoot so poorly? Good defense. I might write a book on that.”
The Boilermakers missed from everywhere on the floor, hitting only 3-of-16 three-point attempts and going without a bucket in the last 7 minutes 15 seconds.
“We missed wide-open shots,” said guard Willie Deane, who led Purdue with 14 points, including 8-of-11 at the line. “In the second half we tried to penetrate more and get to the line, but we should have been more patient. Definitely on the road you have to knock down shots. Every time we started getting momentum, they did something to get it back.”
Brian Cook led Illinois with 22 points and 11 rebounds despite second-half foul trouble. Dee Brown added 13 points. And in his best game of the season, freshman Deron Williams had 11 points, seven rebounds and seven assists after an 0-for-8 shooting misadventure against Indiana.
“He was aggressive against Indiana, but tonight it was so good to see the ball go in the hole,” Self said. “I’m sure a heavy weight was lifted off his shoulders.”
Head, with a season-high 15 points and five rebounds, was the momentum-buster.
With the Illini up 57-56, Brown made a layup. As Head turned to head upcourt, Purdue’s Kenneth Lowe elbowed him before any time had ticked off clock. Head made both free throws to complete a four-point play, then stole the ball at the other end and fed Brown for a fast-break layup.
Brown, fouled by Brandon McKnight on the play, made the free throw for a 64-56 lead. Purdue never recovered.
“I thought we played hard,” Self said. “We were very enthusiastic and energetic, which was a good thing, because we did not rebound the ball. We are not a great rebounding team, but we should be better than we are.”
Purdue had only three more rebounds than Illinois (39-36), but the Boilermakers controlled the offensive glass.
The victory came at a good time for the Illini, who play Saturday at Penn State, but Cook warned his teammates not to make too much of it.
“How big was this win? Real big, because it gave us a little confidence,” Cook said.
“But they beat us bad on the boards. It’s always easier to pressure when you’re at home, but we have to take this same intensity and do it on the road.
“They got back into the game tonight with offensive rebounds and put-backs.
“That’s definitely something we have to work on.”
