EVANSTON--Despite the location of the game and the colors on the court, both Northwestern and Illinois felt at home on Thursday night at Welsh Ryan Arena. The sold-out crowd was about 70/30 in favor of the Fighting Illini.

The Illini jumped out to a first-half lead with the help of their pair of NBA players, and then used an offensive explosion by Alan Griffin to send the Wildcats to their 12th straight defeat, the program's longest losing streak in 20 years.

Illini head coach Brad Underwood was elated with the turnout.

“How great is that?" he said, "to see how proud our fans are of us… We sure as heck don't take it for granted.”.

Griffin scored a game-high 24 points and added seven rebounds for Illinois, which won its fourth straight. The Illini also got contributions from their NBA-bound duo, as Ayo Dosunmu had 21 points, six rebounds and four assists, and Kofi Cockburn had 12 points and a game-high 14 rebounds.

Pat Spencer led the way for NU with 18 points, three rebounds and three assists. Miller Kopp finished the game with 14 points, five rebounds and two assists, while Pete Nance continued his strong recent play by adding 12 points and seven boards.

Illinois jumped out to a quick four-point lead but NU responded by capitalizing on a pair of Illini turnovers to go on an 11-4 run to take a three-point lead with 13:21 left in the first half.

But the Cats had no answer for Dosunmu and Cockburn, who combined for 20 of the Illini's first 22 points and 23 of 34 in the first half. On the other end, NU’s offense screeched to a halt, allowing the Illini to go on a 16-3 run to take control of the game.

Things were getting ugly as Illinois built a 29-16 lead with 4:44 left in the half, but Spencer scored five of his team’s nine points to end the half, which saw the Wildcats trailing 34-26.

NU started the second half strong, cutting the illini lead to five with 15:28 left in the game after a Spencer free throw. But Griffin got hot, scoring back-to-back-to-back 3s as the Illini eventually took a 64-48 lead. Griffin had 17 of his game high 24 points in the second half.

NU continued to fight back, cutting the lead to single digits on three separate occasions, but never got closer than seven points the rest of the way.

Here are our takeaways from the loss that dropped Northwestern's record to 6-21 overall and 1-16 in Big Ten play:

Where would NU be without Spencer? At this point, everyone knows Spencer’s story, and we’re past the point of being surprised that he is a major contributor at the Big Ten level.

But even with these realities understood ,it is still surprising to see him continue to improve as the season goes on.

Tonight, Spencer was easily the best player on the court for NU. He had 18 points on an efficient 8-for-13 shooting, with three rebounds and three assists, But the most surprising stat is that he had zero turnovers in 34 minutes.

Spencer plays like grad transfer with years of experience on the hardwood and not on the lacrosse pitch.

“It's an incredible thing to average double-figures with poise,” said head coach Chris Collins. “He’s played better than even I thought, only because I didn’t know.”

With Spencer cementing himself as the go-to player for NU, it's scary to think about what this team would look like without him -- and equally so to realize he won't be here for much longer.

Griffin is becoming a revelation for Illinois: Griffin, a sophomore, has been known to give the Illini energy off the bench throughout the season. But since returning from his two-game suspension he's become a key player for a team currently in a four-way tie for second in the Big Ten and poised to make a tournament run.

“The X-factor tonight was Griffin’s six 3s,” Collins said.

Indeed, his ability to spread the floor for Illinois’ offense was a key reason why NU’s short runs didn’t materialize into making the game close.

NU fought back late in the game: It was another tough loss for NU, but it could have been worse. Much worse.

With 8:19 left in the game, Northwestern was losing by 16. The pro-Illini crowd was thundering and the Cats looked dead in the water. But unlike the last game against Minnesota, NU didn't back down and continued to press, cutting the lead to five down the stretch.

The game was never really in question, but Collins was proud of his players after showing that fight.

“We could have laid down but we didn't," he said. "We fought till the end and that's all I ask of these guys.”