Shuffling off the floor following Illinois' 64-54 victory over Norfolk State Tuesday night, an Assembly Hall usher posed a question many patrons were already thinking.

"How come the easy games always seem so hard?"

After rising to No. 10 in the national rankings on Monday, unbeaten Illinois had to scratch and claw for every edge it could find before pulling away in the final two minutes against the Spartans (6-6).

Brandon Paul scored 14 points and grabbed eight rebounds, but Illinois made a season-low six 3-pointers and had to overcome a season-worst 35 percent shooting while improving to 11-0.

Tupper