No. 1 Hoosiers fall to unranked Illini after last-second shot

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — About two years ago, the IU men’s basketball team snuck away with a win at home against then-No. 20 Illinois, 52-49.

As the buzzer sounded, IU fans stormed Branch McCracken Court to celebrate the first Hoosier win against a ranked opponent since IU Coach Tom Crean took over the program in 2008.

Thursday night, the tables had completely turned.

With 0.9 seconds left and Illinois with the ball out of bounds, Brandon Paul found Tyler Griffey with a wide-open lane to the basket. He fed Griffey the ball, and the senior forward laid it in off the glass as time expired, securing the upset of the No. 1 Hoosiers 74-72 as a sea of orange soon consumed the court in Champaign’s own Assembly Hall.

Crean said after the game that although it looked as though IU had a comfortable lead for much of the second half, they didn’t put Illinois quite out of reach.

“We didn’t put them away when we had our opportunities,” Crean said, “That’s really what the bottom line is.

“When you’re going against great talent, which this league is full of, you’ve got to stay committed for 40 minutes.”

Both teams struggled early, trading leads for the bulk of the first half. Senior forward Christian Watford sunk a 3-pointer just nine seconds into the battle, but Illinois followed with two back-to-back shots from beyond the arc from guards Brandon Paul and D.J. Richardson for the early 6-3 lead.

Later on, with the game tied at 13-all, the Hoosiers used two 3-point shots of their own to spark the beginnings of a late first half run. Watford hit a 3-pointer with 9:26, and less than two minutes later, senior guard Jordan Hulls hit his first of three deep balls.

After Paul fired another shot from beyond the arc, the Hoosiers took off, scoring 18 of the game’s next 25 points to finish the half with a 41-29 lead.

But the Fighting Illini wouldn’t go away.

Illinois started the second half on a 10-4 run to bring IU’s lead back into single digits, a theme they would continue to repeat throughout the second half.

3-pointers from Hulls and freshman guard Kevin “Yogi” Ferrell sandwiched a Zeller tip-in, and with 13:29 remaining, the Hoosiers were back up 12.

The Hoosiers maintained at least a nine-point lead for the next six minutes until Paul came firing again, rattling off five-straight points for the Illini, capping it off with a 3-pointer with 5:53 left to pull the Illini within six once again.

IU’s lead would never reach double digits again.

The Hoosiers scored just one field goal in the final five minutes as Illinois inched closer before eight-straight Richardson points, including two 3-pointers, pulled Illinois even for the first time since 9:35 left in the first half.

Crean said his team’s defense broke down late in the game, with players over-helping, giving Paul and Richardson wide-open looks from beyond the arc that they were able to take advantage of.

“When they made some threes and got momentum because we didn’t stay where we needed to defensively, that’s what really hurt us,” Crean said.

Junior guard Victor Oladipo countered with a quick bucket at the other end to put IU back up two, but with the ball in his hands for what could have been the final possession, Oladipo faltered.

The Hoosiers turned the ball over 16 times, giving up 28 points.

The last one may have been the most crucial.

Oladipo lost control of the ball with nine seconds left, and Richardson drove down the court for a break-away layup before Oladipo saved the game for the time being with a block out of bounds.

Illinois didn’t have any timeouts left and, Fighting Illini Coach John Groce said he had to call a play he thought his players were most familiar with. Crean said he hadn’t seen it in film while preparing for Illinois.

After the game, Watford said in the midst of the inbounds play, he and Ferrell got tangled up, giving Griffey a wide open look at the basket for the upset, an opportunity that Crean said Illinois shouldn’t have even had.

“When you get a chance to put someone away, you have to put them away,” he said. “We didn’t do it the other night against Michigan. We held on, but they made some threes late, but we had numerous opportunities in that game to put them away, and we didn’t do it tonight."