Champaign Toast: Northwestern blown out by No. 9 Illinois

CHAMPAIGN-Even with their star player suspended indefinitely, No. 9 Illinois crushed Northwestern, start to finish.

The Wildcats had rallied from their Chicago State loss with three straight double-digit wins but ran into a steamroller to start 2024, losing 96-66 in their first Big Ten road game of the season. It was Northwestern's eighth straight loss at State Farm Arena, where they haven't beaten the Illini since 2013.

"Tonight was a very tough night," head coach Chris Collins said. "Give Illinois a lot of credit, we ran into a buzz saw. That was a butt kicking. They threw the first punch, the second punch, the third punch."

Boo Buie led Northwestern with 20, but there were struggles up and down the roster. The team's second-leading scorer, Brooks Barnhizer, shot just 3-for-12 and scored nine points. The team's third-leading scorer, Ryan Langborg, barely got a shot off. He finished 1-for-7 for a season-low two points in 24 minutes, his second fewest of the season.

Collins said Langborg is at full strength and it was just a situation where the grad transfer guard 's shots didn't fall. He played just 23 minutes because Collins didn't see a need to burn his stamina late in the game, when the outcome was already decided.

Illinois didn't miss its leading scorer, Terrance Shannon Jr., for a second. It wasn't even Coleman Hawkins who stepped up, though he finished with a solid 13 points and five boards. It was grad transfer forward Marcus Domask, who had a dominant 32-point performance on a startling 11-of-15 from the field.

The whole Illini team was on fire, finishing with a 63% shooting clip and committing just 10 turnovers.

The Wildcats succeed when they can slow the game down and lean on teams defensively, but the Illini weren't interested in playing Northwestern's style. They kept their distance and used their longer wingspans to lob haymaker after haymaker on NU's chin until the game was well in hand.

The Wildcats never got within five points of Illinois after the 14:32 mark of the first half. They were never within 10 after 7:08 was left in the first half.

This one was a knockout, plain and simple. The Illini opened the game with a 7-0 run and never looked back.

Here are our takeaways from the loss that dropped Northwestern's record to 10-3 overall and 1-1 in the Big Ten:

Barnhizer struggled as the second option: It's early in the season and there is no need to be punitive, but Barnhizer struggled to find and convert shots against the Illini. His right hand is still wrapped as he rehabs an injury to a ligament, which can't be helping his shooting touch.

The bully ball that secured him points and easy buckets against smaller opponents dissipated against the Illini. Barnhizer became the second Wildcat to score more than five points with just 8:37 left in the game.

That's a testament to the struggles across the team. Berry and Langborg absolutely need to be better to create more space with their shooting, but there were games last year where the Wildcats could default to Chase Audige as a secondary shot-creator.

Audige often had the consistency of a roulette wheel, but he did hit quite often and powered Northwestern to wins. It's true that the Wildcats have only played against two Big Ten teams, who were both ranked in the Top 10, but Barnhizer has scored just 8.5 points per game against teams on 30% shooting from the field. Buie got to 20 points, but it's still on Barnhizer to prove he can be that second scorer against this level of competition.

Barnhizer still can fill that role this season as his hand heals and the Wildcats play lesser opponents. It's important to remember that even with tonight's struggles, he's just a couple of weeks departed from scoring 16 points on efficient shooting against Arizona State.

Center production needs to increase: The Wildcats split their time at the five between Matt Nicholson, Blake Preston and Luke Hunger. Here is there production:

Hunger, the sophomore, gave Northwestern some scoring but it was too little, too late. Most of his 10 points came with the game well in Illinois' hands, but he also crucially hit two of his three threes.

The Wildcats need a scoring dimension at center if they want to improve down the stretch and free up their offense against high-profile opponents. Nicholson has thus far struggled to find the form with which he closed last season.

Long road ahead: It's important not to give too much weight to the loss to the Illini. The 30-point margin was nearly double, but the Wildcats looked equally hapless this time last year against Ohio State on Jan. 1.

Collins said the team's defense is its main point of emphasis and that, despite swapping the Big Ten's Co-Defensive Player of the Year in Audige for the offense-heavy Langborg and giving up 90+ to Purdue and Illinois, this team still has the potential to be strong defensively.

"I do," he said, when asked if he thinks they can get back to their 2022-23 form. "I think I've seen it in stretches. We went out to Arizona and held Arizona State to 46 points."

The Wildcats have been elite in spurts, but often against outmatched foes like the Sun Devils or DePaul.

"Illinois, obviously, is a Top 10 team, but we have shown when we're in the right spots, we have the right attitude, we have the right mentality and we're dialed in, we're a solid defensive team," Collins continued. "When you take the Defensive Player of the Year (Audige) off the floor, you're going to miss his ability to get steals and guard one-on-one. But defense is still five guys... You can really see when a team is five guys playing as one and we have to."

This was a brutal outcome, but, at the end of the day, the Wildcats have split games against two Top 10 opponents in conference.

"We're 10-3, we're 1-1 in conference," Collins said. "A lot of people are going to lose in this building... We came here with the attitude to have a chance to win, we didn't get that done."

The Wildcats have a chance to bounce back, they did last season, in front of what projects to be a raucous student section this Sunday night at Welsh-Ryan Arena against Michigan State.