Purdue Boilermakers vs Illinois Fighting Illini Match Player Stats On Jan 02, 2021

Despite surrendering the first 16 points of the second half, No. 15 Illinois rallied to earn a 66-58 Big Ten victory over Purdue on Saturday night in Champaign, Ill.

Kofi Cockburn produced 14 points and 10 rebounds to guide Illinois (8-3, 4-1 Big Ten) to its third win in a row. Senior swingman Da'Monte Williams added 12 points and 10 rebounds for his second career double-double while Ayo Dosunmu scored all 12 of his points in the first half.

Trevion Williams and Brandon Newman scored 14 points apiece to pace Purdue (7-5, 2-3), which couldn't grab its first road win despite transforming a 33-20 deficit late in the first half into a 39-33 lead with just under 16 minutes to go.

Illinois missed eight of its first nine shots as the hosts alternated between clanging 3-pointers and unsuccessfully challenging Purdue's 7-foot-4 Zach Edey, who blocked two shots and changed two others.

Nonetheless, Illinois took control midway through the first half. Purdue scored just two points over a nine-minute stretch -- missing 15 out of 16 shots -- as the Illini turned a 7-2 deficit into a 16-9 lead.

When Andre Curbelo (eight points, six assists) found Cockburn in transition for an alley-oop slam with 9:48 left in the half, Illinois owned a 10-0 run and a 16-9 lead that forced Purdue coach Matt Painter to call a timeout.

Purdue got as close as 23-20 on Williams' clever turnaround in Cockburn's face with 2:06 left in the half, but Illinois reeled off 10 straight points in 1:45 to take a 33-23 lead into halftime.

Curbelo orchestrated nearly the entire run as he fed Cockburn in the post for a left hook, then set up Williams for a 3-pointer from each corner. Dosunmu capped the spree with a fast-break layup on a feed from Trent Frazier.

But Illinois didn't break Purdue's spirit. Aaron Wheeler cashed a 3-pointer before the halftime buzzer, then the Boilers scored the first 16 points of the second half to seize a 39-33 lead with 15:51 to go. Newman scored nine points during the spree while Williams added four along with a no-look back door feed to Newman for a three-point play.

But as quickly as the Boilers heated up, they cooled off again.

The Illini embarked on a 22-6 run to regain a 55-45 advantage with nine minutes to play -- and they did it without Dosunmu taking a shot as freshmen Curbelo, Adam Miller (10 points) and Coleman Hawkins combined for the final 10 points of the run.

--Field Level Media