Offensive woes down IU

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- With just over five minutes left in the first half Tuesday night, IU guard Rod Wilmont stepped up to the free-throw line ready to shoot the second of the his two foul shots. Wilmont splashed the 15-footer and retreated comfortably down the court, having put his team up 21-14.\nIt was the last time IU would expand a lead. \nVictimized by a 12-minute first-half field-goal drought and an Illini team thriving on home-court advantage, the Hoosiers (14-5, Big Ten 4-2) suffered their second loss in 11 games and second in the Big Ten season.\nFor the first time this season, IU coach Kelvin Sampson seemed disappointed with the effort of his team.\n"I didn't think much of anything we did," Sampson said. "This loss, you look up and you lose by eight or 10 points and you go back and say, 'Here's some areas where we didn't play as well as we have played.' This team has really played well this year, but we have to. We have to maximize our ability every night out."\nFrom the 12:23 mark in the first half, when IU guard Earl Calloway knocked down a 3-pointer, to the 0:39 mark, when junior forward Mike White made a post layup, Wilmont's shots and forward D.J. White's free throw were the only points IU scored.\nThanks to that dry spell, the Hoosiers surrendered a seven-point lead and ended the first half tied at 23. \nAfter scoring seven of the first 11 IU points, White struggled to touch the ball in the post for much of the rest of the game, thanks to Illinois double-teams coming both from Illini guards and from the weak-side post defender, forward Warren Carter. \n"They did a good job of when I caught the ball coming down to help," White said. "They threw different things at me. They mixed it up."\nAfter picking up his second foul in the first half, White was forced to sit on the bench for the remainder of the half, and IU lacked a post scoring threat. \nIllinois continued its scoring run in the second half when forward Sean Pruitt muscled a layup and guard Rich McBride added two 3-pointers on two consecutive possessions to open the Illinois lead to 31-23. \nIU climbed back in the game in the second half behind two White field goals and two drives by freshman guard Armon Bassett, and IU got within two. Illinois quickly expanded its lead to seal the win.\n"Tonight we played like we're a little bit better than we actually are," Sampson said. "That's why it's going to be good to get back to practice"