Northwestern visits No. 25 Illinois after Wallace’s 26-point performance

By Canadian Press on January 17, 2026.

Northwestern Wildcats (8-10, 2-5 Big Ten) at Illinois Fighting Illini (14-4, 4-3 Big Ten)

Champaign, Illinois; Sunday, 3 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: No. 25 Illinois hosts Northwestern after Berry Wallace scored 26 points in Illinois’ 85-69 loss to the Michigan Wolverines.

The Fighting Illini are 10-1 in home games. Illinois scores 79.5 points and has outscored opponents by 16.9 points per game.

The Wildcats are 2-5 against Big Ten opponents. Northwestern has a 3-7 record in games decided by at least 10 points.

Illinois scores 79.5 points, 8.2 more per game than the 71.3 Northwestern allows. Northwestern averages 65.8 points per game, 3.2 more than the 62.6 Illinois allows.

The Fighting Illini and Wildcats meet Sunday for the first time in Big Ten play this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Maddie Webber is shooting 45.8% from beyond the arc with 1.8 made 3-pointers per game for the Fighting Illini, while averaging 11.7 points. Wallace is shooting 54.1% and averaging 19.8 points over the last 10 games.

Grace Sullivan is averaging 22.2 points and 6.8 rebounds for the Wildcats. Tayla Thomas is averaging 10.5 points over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Fighting Illini: 7-3, averaging 77.6 points, 31.9 rebounds, 16.4 assists, 5.9 steals and 2.7 blocks per game while shooting 45.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 69.4 points per game.

Wildcats: 2-8, averaging 63.7 points, 28.1 rebounds, 17.8 assists, 6.8 steals and 4.1 blocks per game while shooting 41.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 75.6 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

The Associated Press

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