By MARK TUPPER H&R Executive Sports Editor

DECATUR - It may have been Roger Powell's 22nd birthday, but it was Luther Head who blew out Northwestern's candles on Saturday.

Head scored inside, outside and totaled 26 points, and Powell added 15 points and seven rebounds as No. 1-ranked Illinois defeated Northwestern 78-66 in front of 8,117 fans at Welsh-Ryan Arena, about half of whom were decked out in Illini orange.

It was Illinois' 18th victory without a loss, which now becomes the gold standard as the best start by any team in school history, topping the 17-0 start by the 1988-89 Flyin' Illini. And with North Carolina losing at Wake Forest on Saturday, any talk of the Tar Heels being more deserving of the nation's No. 1 ranking will subside.

When Illinois lost here 70-60 last year, Head was just coming off his second suspension of the season, a two-game penalty for driving with a suspended license. He was in a funk, made just one-of-seven shots and was 0-for-6 from 3-point range.

Saturday, it was a more mature, confident Head who emerged as the best player on the floor. And it turns out he received an extra jolt of pre-game motivation when some of the rowdies in the Northwestern student section unleashed lewd comments, at least one vulgar sign and threw pizza onto the floor while Illinois was trying to warm up.

But what really got Head agitated was when the fans targeted team manager Brandon Smith, making fun of his weight and calling him "Fat Albert." Turns out, Smith is a roommate of Head and Dee Brown and they didn't take too kindly to the insults hurled at their friend.

"I really didn't like that," Head said. "I didn't think it was appropriate. He wasn't playing in the game. I didn't like it at all."

"It was stupid," said Deron Williams, who had early foul trouble but still managed nine assists in 25 minutes of play. "The things they were saying were so disrespectful. I know our fans don't say that. If they did, they'd get penalized or warned.

"There was no joking. It was derogatory. I was about to get the rebound and the pizza plopped right in the middle of the court. I can't tell you what they said. You couldn't write it down. You'd have a bunch of bleeps in it."

Weber downplayed the incident.

"It's fun. (The fans) are great, they've always been great. They always used to get on Coach Keady and we used to hold back the laughter. They are very clever. It's fun.

"But I think it kind of motivated them a little bit. It was like Cincinnati talking trash (before Illinois' NCAA tournament romp last season). They were already motivated, but that got their juices flowing."

Illinois (18-0, 4-0) played well on offense (22 assists on 30 baskets, 49.2 percent shooting percentage) and on defense, where it forced 16 turnovers despite watching the Wildcats knock down 57.1 percent of their shots.

After leading 42-34 at halftime, Illinois' lead was 53-48 with 12:10 to play when it began pulling away.

First came a three-point play by James Augustine (nine points, seven rebounds), a 16-foot jumper by Jack Ingram and a pair of free throws by Head that jumped the margin to 60-48 with 10:06 to play.

Northwestern's Mohamed Hachad and Augustine traded rebound baskets before Powell hit a jumper as the shot clock was about the expire and Head stole the ball and flashed all the way to the basket to put Illinois on top 66-53 at the 7:15 mark.

Eventually, Illinois would get the lead to 18 points as Northwestern (8-8, 1-3) had trouble form the free-throw line and with turnovers. Vedran Vukusic led the Wildcats with 20 points.

"Clearly, Illinois is a very good team and playing at a pretty high level," Northwestern coach Bill Carmody said. "The numbers that jump out at me are 16 turnovers and (allowing Illinois) 16 offensive rebounds.

"They shot about 50 percent and half the shots they missed they got back. It seemed like points off turnovers hurt us a lot, too. If you are going to beat a good team, you cannot turn the ball over. Last year, when we beat them here, we had three turnovers.

"You have to play very well to beat a team of that caliber, and we did not."

Illinois also got an excellent first half from Nick Smith (4-of-6 shooting, eight points) and Brown contributed 12 points and seven assists overall.

But it was Head who made play after play, either hitting from beyond the 3-point line or by driving the ball inside - at times spectacularly - against the Northwestern defense.

"Luther has been so important," Weber said. "We said he's the X-factor, the guy no one talks about. He continues to play great basketball like seniors should. I thought our seniors were very good today.

"Nick had a much better game than last week at Purdue. Jack Ingram has been solid, and Roger got enough offensive rebounds and key baskets when they were making runs. He kind of broke their spirit with those putbacks."

Powell celebrated his birthday Saturday and will stand before the Mount Zion Full Gospel Tabernacle Church in Joliet at 11 a.m., today. The licensed minister will deliver a sermon entitled, "Putting on the Full Armor or God."

Following Saturday's victory, his message was a familiar one: Stay hungry, stay humble.

"We're doing pretty good, but the one thing we have to do is keep focused, keep going, keep getting better and better. The sky is the limit for us. There are going to be some good road tests, and I think this today was a good road test.

"Anytime you go into a gym and get a victory, you have to be pretty happy."

Now it's back to Champaign for a 6 p.m. showdown Thursday against Iowa. A victory there would make Illinois 19-0 heading into the much-anticipated game at Wisconsin on Jan. 25, the game ESPN's Dick Vitale has said will be Illinois' first loss of the year.

For a team that has found motivation in students calling its manager "Fat Albert," maybe Vitale will provide the motivation for that one.

Mark Tupper can be reached at mtupper@;herald-review.com or 421-7983.