By IlliniGuys Staff

March 5, 2024

(Photo courtesy Joe Clark/IlliniGuys)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - All-American Zach Edey scored a game-high 28 points and Purdue hit 8 of 10 three-pointers in the second half as the Boilermakers completed the season sweep of 12th ranked Illinois, 77-71.

The win lifts Purdue (27-3, 16-3 in Big Ten Conference) to their second consecutive outright conference championship.

Illinois (22-8, 13-6) came out of the locker room strong, with seven different players scoring their first seven baskets, a Luke Goode three-pointer giving the Illini a 16-10 lead.  The Illini took a 40-34 advantage into halftime.

The Boilers hit a pair of three-pointers early in the second half, but were still trailing 48-43 when they turned to Edey.  The 7-foot-4 senior engineered a personal 6-1 run to tie the game at 48.

The teams battled evenly to a 64-64 tie with 4:22 remaining, but Illinois - which had scored 80 points or more in nine straight games - managed just one field goal the rest of the way.

Marcus Domask led the Illini with 20 points, half of those coming in the final 10 minutes.  Coleman Hawkins added 13 points and Quincy Guerrier 12 while Terrence Shannon was held to a season-low 11 points on 3-of-13 shooting.

Illinois closes out the regular season with a trip to Iowa on Sunday (6pm CST, BTN) with a chance to clinch second place and the #2 seed in next week's Big Ten tournament.

Stay with IlliniGuys.com for complete postgame coverage.