Zeller wins battle in the post

The NBA scouts were out in droves at Assembly Hall on Thursday to watch two of the most sought-after big men in all of college basketball.

The matchup of Illinois sophomore center Meyers Leonard and Indiana freshman forward Cody Zeller lived up to the billing as the two ran the floor, finished at the rim and led their teams in scoring.

But at the final buzzer, it was the freshman who outlasted the sophomore.
In his largest matchup to date, Zeller finished with 22 points and five rebounds to help No. 23 Indiana (19-6, 7-6) to a 84-71 victory against Illinois (16-8, 5-6).

The first half was all Leonard as his 15 points paced the Fighting Illini with Zeller being kept to just one made field goal in 16 minutes of action.

Any chance for a repeat following halftime was non-existent as Zeller hit his first four field goals of the second half and helped keep Leonard scoreless during the game’s final 18 minutes.

Following the game, junior guard Jordan Hulls credited the play of IU’s freshman to such a physical matchup.

“He was great in the second half especially, not letting (Leonard) post deep,” Hulls said. “When we fed the ball to Cody in the post he was really patient, like he always is, and trying to find people but if not he attacked the basket and got him in
foul trouble.”

During a physical second half, Leonard picked up his fourth foul on a moving screen with 12:29 remaining in the game.

The Fighting Illini were down 57-54 when the play happened, and it forced Leonard to head to the bench until re-entering at the 7:44 mark with Illinois
down seven.

He would last four more minutes before ultimately fouling out with 3:09 left and finished the evening with 17 points and 7-of-10 shooting.

“He’s been in foul trouble quite a bit in the Big Ten,” Zeller said. “In the second half, we were in the bonus pretty early, so I definitely wanted to attack. Any foul was a one-and-one or two free throws, so I definitely wanted to be aggressive and get to the
free-throw line.”

This wasn’t the first time that the two have seen each other on the basketball court, as they grew up about an hour apart with Leonard hailing from Robinson, Ill.
Leonard was coming off a 21-point performance against Northwestern where he hit his first nine shots of the game.

The sophomore averaged just 2.1 points per game last year, but his vast improvement has led to him to be a lottery pick in numerous mock NBA Drafts.

Zeller has also seen his name high up on mock draft boards with Chad Ford of ESPN ranking him as the No. 10 prospect of draft eligible players (if he chooses
to declare).

A total of 19 NBA scouts were in the building Thursday evening and watched two future pros go blow-for-blow in the post.

The scouts watched as Zeller shot his most free throws in a Big Ten game and helped contribute to two Illinois big men fouling out.

“I think he relishes it,” IU Coach Tom Crean said of the physical nature of the Big Ten against Zeller. “I think it gets him going. I think the more you come at him, the better it is. The only thing soft about Cody is he’s soft spoken a little bit too much on the court. Other than that he’s a tough, tough person.”