IU defeats top-seed Illinois, moves to finals

CHICAGO -- Mike Davis claims he isn't a fortune-teller.\nBut IU's interim head coach winked at IU fans sitting two rows behind him with 90 seconds remaining as if he knew something good was about to happen.\nHe was right.\nJunior forward Kirk Haston blocked a potential game-tying layup by Frank Williams with .9 seconds remaining, to seal IU's 58-56 victory against Illinois Saturday in the semi-finals of the Big Ten championships.\nThe Hoosiers will face Iowa at 2:30 p.m. Sunday at the United Center in Chicago.\nSophomore guard Tom Coverdale had an opportunity to make a win certain when he stepped to the free-throw line with 8.9 seconds left.\nHe missed the first. The second bounced out and into Williams' hands.\n"There were two guys there, but it was a clear lane," Williams said. "Then Haston came over and made a great play."\nHaston finished with 16 points, two rebounds, and one game-winning block. Sophomore guard Tom Coverdale led all scorers with 17 points, and freshman forward Jared Jeffries added 10.\nWilliams was the only Illinois player in double figures. He scored 14 points, 11 in the first half with Coverdale guarding him.\nDavis assigned Williams to junior guard Dane Fife in the second half.\nFife held Williams to three points - all from the free throw line and zero assists.\nIllinois coach Bill Self blamed his team for Williams' troubles in the second half.\n"When we don't execute, Frank has to go make plays and we end up watching Frank play," Self said. "In the first half, Frank scored points, but we ran bad offense. I think he tried to get more people involved in the second half."\nWilliams led Illinois (24-7, 13-3) to a 29-26 lead at halftime. Brian Cook gave Illinois a seven-point lead on a three pointer with 16:37 remaining in the game. Haston tied the game two minutes later on the first of two free throws. He missed the second, but Jeffries grabbed the rebound and put it back to give IU its first lead of the game. After Cook's shot, IU went on an 18-6 run giving IU a 48-43 lead midway through the second half.\nJunior forward Jarrad Odle extended IU's lead to eight with six minutes left. Odle played 29 minutes because starting forward Jeffrey Newton was in foul trouble and sophomore Kyle Hornsby was on the bench with a sprained ankle. Odle scored five points and grabbed seven rebounds.\n"Jarrad came in and showed that he wanted to play physical with those guys," Coverdale said. "He did a great job inside against their big guys."\nIllinois' starting front line scored 15 points, and the team shot 32.7 percent from the field for the game\n"I told our players that if we could hold Illinois to under 35 percent shooting, then we could win the game," Davis said.\nAgain, he was right.