Michael Thompson scored 22 points, including three key 3-pointers late that helped Northwestern topple No. 24 Illinois 71-70 Saturday afternoon in Evanston, Ill.

The Fighting Illini scored 12 straight points to even the game at 53-53 with 6:39 left, but Thompson ended the run with a 3-pointer at the 6:11 mark that put Northwestern (14-8, 4-7 Big Ten) back in front for good. The senior guard added two more buckets from long range to help stretch the lead to 64-57 with 2:18 to go.

Illinois (15-8, 5-5 Big Ten), which was led by Brandon Paul's 21 points, had three different opportunities to tie the score down the stretch and got as close as 68-67 in the final seconds, but the Fighting Illini never held the lead. A 3-pointer at the buzzer by Paul trimmed the final margin to one.

JerShon Cobb and Drew Crawford added 13 and 12 points, respectively, for Northwestern. Demetri McCamey scored 14 points for Illinois.