Hoosiers watch big lead vanish, lose 66-60

IU coach Tom Crean turned toward the crowd and raised his hands like a maestro as the fans cheered on the Hoosiers who had a one point reminisce of what was once a large lead.

It was about to get smaller.

Illinois freshman guard D.J. Richardson came off a screen near the middle of the key and hit a 2-pointer that gave his Illini team a 61-60 lead at the 1:16 mark. Several failed free throws and field goal attempts later, IU had lost 66-60 to Illinois on its home floor.
It didn’t always seem like the slow-starting Illini would challenge for a win.

IU maintained a 41-28 lead at the end of the first half but bottomed out in the second half. The Illini crowned a night where they shot 27-of-39 from the free-throw line, as IU only went 10-of-18.

“I guess we kept it close and that gave us a chance, but it didn’t look very good,” Illinois coach Bruce Weber said. “Sadly, we’ve been in this spot many times before this season. We’ve been down 23, 21 and other amounts.”

After finishing 14-of-25 in the first half, the Hoosiers would go on to chart a 28.6 percent shooting average in the second half, finishing at 22-of-53 shooting.

“I thought that we did come out and we really competed inside of this game,” Crean said. “And they deserve credit because they made plays. They made more in the second half.”

Freshman guard Jordan Hulls led the first-half charge with 12 points, but he wouldn’t score for the rest of the game and only managed to put up three shot attempts in the second half.

Hulls’ points came largely from the 3-point line, where he started perfect but finished 3-of-6. His team, which had gone 5-of-6, also saw some trouble from outside the arc. The Hoosiers shot 35 percent from the 3-point line on 17 attempts.

“We had some open possessions,” Hulls said. “And we fouled a whole lot. They got to the free-throw line; that killed out momentum.”

Crean has said on multiple occasions that leadership is not developed in practice, but at the end of a close game.

When the Hoosiers led near the final minutes against the Illini, there was no IU player to take the reins.

After IU held a 60-59 lead at the 2:18 mark, IU didn’t tally a bucket. But the Hoosiers had a missed free throw from freshman forward Christian Watford, a forced reverse layup by junior guard Jeremiah Rivers and Hulls and sophomore guard Verdell Jones missed 3-pointers.  

Weber was even left guessing how his team pulled out a game that featured only one lead change and saw his team trail by as many as 15.

“I don’t know if it was us doing a better job or they maybe lost their legs a little bit,” he said, “but we kept our poise and just kept chipping away.”

Illinois guard Demetri McCamey played a large part in IU’s inability to force the Illini into mistakes, as they surged back into the game. The bulldozing guard lowered his shoulder and steamrolled for 19 points and 9 assists.

Many of McCamey’s assists where thrown toward Illinois center Mike Tisdale, who finished the game with 27 points and 9 rebounds. The big man was also 13-of-14 from the free-throw line.

The Hoosiers were led in scoring by Jones’ 13 points. Hulls (12), Watford (10) and senior guard Devan Dumes (10) were the only other IU players to score in double figures.

Similar to many other occasions, Crean kept his eye on the program. Not keying in on the Illinois loss, he used what he called “perspective” when describing a game where his team ultimately faded in the second half.

“I am encouraged,” he said. “I am not pleased, I am not happy. It’s not a moral victory, we fought. And every chance we get that, we have to build on that.”