No. 9 Purdue 93, Illinois 86

What happened

CHAMPAIGN — About 100 people chanted outside State Farm Center before Thursday’s game, protesting fans wearing Chief Illiniwek apparel. The 14,673 inside the arena hollered too, entertained by one of the Illini’s most impressive efforts of the season.

Illinois (13-7, 3-14 Big Ten) lost its 2017-18 home finale, but a competitive, exhilerating loss to No. 9 Purdue felt like one Illini coach Brad Underwood truly could build on. For 40 minutes, the Illini pushed Purdue, which is still fighting for a Big Ten championship and a No. 1 or No. 2 NCAA Tournament seed.

The Illini punched, got knocked down, got back up and punched again. In the end, though, the heavyweight Boilermakers — sophomore guard Carsen Edwards in particular — were too much to overcome, earning the edge in a 12-round bout.

Edwards carried Purdue (25-5, 14-3 Big Ten) — which was without All-Big Ten candidate Vince Edwards (ankle) — with a career-high 40 points. Carsen Edwards did it from every level, hitting 4-for-8 from beyond the arc, 14-for-16 from the free-throw line and slamming home two SC Top-10 dunks. Dakota Mathias added 18 points, hitting four 3-pointers.

Purdue shot 58.3 percent from the floor, including 11-for-23 from three. The Boilermakers also had a huge advantage at the free-throw line, hitting 26 of 31 from the charity stripe while Illinois went 8-for-10.

Leron Black (28 points) tied a career high in points to lead Illinois, topping 20 points for the fourth straight game. Trent Frazier poured in 20 points (all in the second half) and added six assists and a career-high five steals.

The Illini got a big boost from two guards off the bench. Te'Jon Lucas had 12 points, 6 assists and 3 rebounds. Freshman Da'Monte Williams scored a career-high 11 points, sinking a career-high three 3-pointers. He’d scored just five points during his previous seven games and entered the game 1-for-15 from three during Big Ten play. Williams also added four rebounds and two assists.

The Illini shot 50.0 percent from the field, including 12-for-28 from three. The Illini scored 13 points off 13 turnovers from the usually sure-handed Boilermakers but were out-rebounded 33-20.

Illinois has now lost 13 of 16 to Purdue and hasn’t defeated a top-10 opponent since 2013 (74-72 over No. 1 Indiana).

Illinois took an 18-13 lead after making 7 of its first 11 shots. But Purdue then caught fire, hitting 11 of its next 13 shots — including 6 of 8 from three — to go on a 25-10 run and take a 40-28 lead. But Illinois hung tough and kept the game competitive by ending the half on a 10-3 run, spurred by 3-pointers from Lucas and Williams. The late flurry was only a sign of what was to come.

Edwards and Frazier might look like lightweights, but the guards started the second half with a heavyweight fight. The Purdue sophomore point guard delivered a blow, only to be countered with a jab from the Illini freshman point guard. Edwards scored 14 of Purdue’s first 16 points of the half, and Frazier scored 10 of the Illini’s first 18, setting a blistering pace that resulted in a 56-56 tie after the first six minutes of the half.

But then Purdue went on a 14-4 run to again claim a double-digit cushion. Still, the Illini battled back yet again with Frazier and Williams hitting big 3-pointers to keep Illinois within two possessions. Illinois closed to within 79-75 but could never get closer.

Michael Finke returned to the court after missing his last four games with a concussion.

What it means

Thursday ended with yet another Illinois basketball loss, but Brad Underwood should go to bed feeling a lot better about his program. Even without Vince Edwards, Purdue is one of the best teams in the country and the Illini went toe-to-toe with the Boilers for 40 minutes. Purdue needed a career game from Carsen Edwards — an All-Big Ten First Team selection on my ballot — to escape Champaign with a win. Core pieces to next season’s team — Black, Frazier and Williams — all played great, and Lucas and Greg Eboigbodin made nice contributions. The Illini were tough and resilient but also ran Underwood’s offense as well as it has against one of the best defenses in the country. Illinois didn’t get a ‘W’ on Thursday, but it was a win "for the culture."

What's next

Illinois has a whole two days to prepare for Sunday’s regular-season finale at Rutgers (2 p.m., BTN). The game will have Big Ten Tournament seeding implications. Illinois, Rutgers and Iowa are all tied at the bottom of the conference. Illinois and Rutgers cannot finish in a tie, so the winner will be the higher seed. But if Iowa loses to Rutgers in the final game, Rutgers has the tiebreaker over Iowa, but Iowa has the tiebreaker over Illinois. The Illini routed Rutgers 91-60 on Jan. 30, the Illini’s largest Big Ten victory since 2009. Since then, the Scarlet Knights have won one game (67-58 in overtime over Northwestern). Steve Pikiell’s team has lost 9 of 10 and is getting outscored by 11.9 points per game. For comparison, the Illini’s conference scoring margin is minus-6.3.