Hoosiers defeat Illini, 84-71

There was no need for a postgame celebration in the south Assembly Hall lobby this time.

The Hoosiers, who came in as the favorite against the Illini this year, did more than hold up their end of the bargain.

IU kept its foot on the gas and cruised to an 84-71 victory against Illinois on Thursday night at Assembly Hall.

“We knew we were playing against a really good team, in my mind an NCAA Tournament team and a team that was going to be desperate to come in here and get a win,” IU Coach Crean said. “Our guys responded to that.”

On a night during which IU had no problems putting points on the board, the Hoosiers were led by a 22-point performance from freshman forward Cody Zeller.

Also pacing IU was sophomore guard Victor Oladipo, who poured in 18 of his own after a career-high 23 points in a 78-61 win at Purdue on Feb. 4.

Junior forward Christian Watford also finished with 18 points, but his performance came off his first career game without a field goal.

“It was big for me,” Watford said. “My teammates did a great job of keeping me confident throughout the slump I went through, and they did a great job of finding me tonight.”

The Hoosiers set the tone early and shot out to a 13-6 lead early. But Illinois responded with a run of its own, fueled by sophomore center Meyers Leonard.

A back-and-forth first half saw IU with a 38-36 lead, yet Leonard was still dictating the offensive tempo with 15 first-half points.

“Our team defense wasn’t good enough in the first half against Meyers Leonard,” Crean said.

The Illini’s leading scorer, junior guard Brandon Paul, went into halftime with two points, shooting 20 percent (1-of-5).

Paul was stymied by the defensive pressure of Oladipo and picked up two fouls, limiting his minutes in the first half.

“Vic was just all over him, trying not to let him sniff the ball,” junior guard Jordan Hulls said. “He did a really good job, and that’s what we need to do. His defensive intensity is huge for us. That creates a lot of offense for us as well.”

The second half repeated the back-and-forth tempo of the first half, with the Hoosiers and Illini trading baskets in the early going.

But a 3-pointer from Hulls before the under-16 timeout gave IU a lead, and it would not look back.

While IU finished with four scorers with at least 15 points for the first time this season, Crean chocked up the Hoosiers’ ability to pull away to defense.

“Our defense got a lot better as the game went on,” Crean said. “That’s the
whole key.”

Though IU scored the most points against the Illini it ever has in the Crean era, the game slowed down with the fouls being called. IU went to the line a season-high 42 times, 26 of which were in the second half.

“That’s big for us,” Hulls said. “We definitely need to get to the free-throw line.”
Illinois came in having played in eight straight games of five points or less, but the Hoosiers ended that streak by making free throws down the stretch.

This year’s 13-point win was different than last year’s 3-point squeaker. Hulls said keeping their foot on the gas in a game like this was critical moving forward.

“We’ve done it before, but this was a big game at home,” Hulls said. “We knew we needed this win, and we were able to dig down deep and get it. It was pretty important
for us.”