Late Surge Propels Purdue Past Illini Men 73-56

Purdue beat the Illini men's basketball team 73-56 Wednesday night in West Lafayette, Indiana.

The game was tied at 48 with ten minutes to go, but then the Boilermakers scored twelve straight points, eventually closing the game on a 25-8 run led by seven-footer Matt Haarms. 

Illinois head coach Brad Underwood said the Netherlands native was able to score at will in the paint, while the Illini couldn't.

"Haarms was terrific, not only offensively, but defensively," Underwood said. "40-18 points in the paint pretty much summed up the difference in the game."

Haarms scored 21 points on a perfect shooting night, and added 10 rebounds, five on the offensive glass, five blocked shots and an assist.  He had his way with the much shorter Illini, especially after Giorgi Bezhanishvili fouled out, having scored only two points to that point in the game.  Adonis de la Rosa did not play for Illinois because of a sore knee.

Carsen Edwards led all scorers with 23 points for the Boilers.

No Illini scored in double figures. Andres Feliz and Ayo Dosunmu each scored nine points.  Aaron Jordan and Alan Griffin each had seven. Trent Frazier scored 8 coming off the bench.  

The loss drops Illinois to 10-18 on the year, 6-11 in conference play. Purdue retains its lead in the Big Ten race with a 14-3 conference record. They improve to 21-7 overall.

The Illini return to action Sunday evening, at home, against Northwestern.