At the Buzzer: Illinois 94, Indiana 69

Quick thoughts on a 94-69 loss to Illinois:

How it happened

After Saturday’s 25-point beatdown at Iowa, all eyes were on how Indiana would respond at home against Illinois on Tuesday night. It didn’t take long to get an answer. The Illini led 10-8 with 17:08 in the first half and the rout was on from there. In less than 13 minutes of game time, Illinois grew its lead by 28 points. Illinois led by 30 points – 52-22 – with 4:51 left in the first half. The numbers in the opening 20 minutes were damning. Illinois went 8-for-19 on 3s, Indiana was 0-for-6. Illinois had 17 second-chance points, Indiana had four. Boos rang out in Assembly Hall and there were “Fire Woodson” chants directed at Indiana’s head coach. Illinois led 60-32 at the break and had amassed 1.53 points per possession. It was, according to ESPN Stats and Info, the largest halftime deficit for the Hoosiers in Assembly Hall in at least 25 years.

Indiana scored the first 10 points of the second half but then went on a 2:15 scoring drought ahead of the first media timeout. The Illini led 64-42 at that break after a Kasparas Jakucionis bucket, which gave him 21 points for the game. The Hoosiers got within 16 on an Oumar Ballo bucket at 64-48 with 13:30 to play, but Illini stretched the lead back to 21 by the under-12 media timeout after a Ben Humrichous dunk and Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn 3-pointer. By the 9:14 mark, the Illini stretched the lead back to 25 at 76-51 on a pair of Kylan Boswell free throws. The lead ballooned back to 30 on a couple of occasions in the final eight minutes as the Hoosiers fell to 13-5 overall and 4-2 in the Big Ten.

Standout performer

Oumar Ballo led Indiana with a double-double, finishing with 16 points and 15 rebounds. Ballo was ejected in the final minutes for shoving Illinois big man Tomislav Ivisic.

Statistics that stand out

Illinois went 11-for-32 on 3s and the Hoosiers shot a dismal 4-for-18 from the perimeter. The Illini had 16 offensive rebounds compared to just eight for Indiana. Illinois also went 23-for-26 from the free throw line compared to just 15-for-18 for the Hoosiers.