In the 14 months I’ve lived in my apartment, I’ve gotten in about three fights with my roommate. These fights have not stemmed from taking out the trash, or rent, or leaving too many dishes in the sink: They’ve all been sports related. He’s an Illinois fan. I’m an Indiana fan. He’s a Cubs fan. I’m a White Sox fan. That should just about do all the explaining for you.

This year, during both IU-Illinois matchups, there was no bickering. He realizes IU is in a down year. Before the first game, he even made some off-handed remark about it “not even being a rivalry this year.”

And besides Bruce Weber’s comments before the year about how Indiana was going to be real bad and to “not print that on the Internet,” everything in Illini Nation seems a bit more calm than last year. Bruce has been cordial in both meetings. Chester Frazier, he of Eric Gordon pregame pushing fame, was nice in his postgame comments Sunday. I think it’s a combination of Kelvin Sampson being gone (he was the hated villain in all this, really), Gordon going pro, IU not being very good this year and Illinois fans having respect for Tom Crean and his choice to clean house and do things the right way.

This is not to say the rivalry does not still exist, or that fans on both side of the fence don’t feel hatred towards one another. But, it is to say, at least for this year, those tempers have died down a bit.

Unless you’re first-year Illinois JUCO transfer from Lee College, Dominique Keller — a guy who wasn’t even on the team last year.

“I’ve only been in this rivalry for one year, and I can tell you right now, I do not like this school,” Keller said. “I don’t like the coach, and I don’t like the fans. As a matter of fact, I don’t like the gym. It’s just something about Indiana I just don’t like. You can quote me on that.”

You have been quoted, Dominique. But dude, what have we done to you?

To call free throw shooting a problem for the 2008-2009 version of the Indiana Hoosiers would be an understatement. The foul line has been more of a major catastrophe.

Indiana (6-18, 1-11 Big Ten) hit just 11 of 24 free throws and fell 65-52 to Illinois on Sunday afternoon in front of the first sellout crowd this season at Assembly Hall. The Hoosiers are shooting just 65 percent from the foul line this season, including 66 percent in Big Ten play.

After trailing 36-15 late in the first half, Indiana closed to within six at 54-48 with 6:27 remaining on a coast to coast layup by Malik Story. But the Illini (21-5, 9-4) immediately answered with a 3-pointer by Chester Frazier and Indiana never got closer than eight the rest of the way.

“We gave ourselves some chances at the end, but really, the way we played in the first half didn’t give us enough,” Indiana coach Tom Crean said. “Give them credit. They made enough plays and they went up to the free throw line and made the free throws.”

The loss set a school record for losses in a season (18) and tied a school record for Big Ten losses (11), a mark IU will almost certainly eclipse with six conference games remaining.

(more…)

FINAL SCORE: Illinois 65, Indiana 52

THE GOOD:

The second half. During their first matchup, Illinois was one of the teams this year that IU was never in the game against. At halftime, it sure looked like that was going to be the case again this afternoon. But, as we’ve seen so many times this season, IU did not quit. The Hoosiers did not give up. They fought. And though they never seriously threatened to win this game — six was as close as they got — they showed some amazing resolve in front of a packed crowd at home. Crawling back from a 21-point deficit to come as close as six is never an easy thing.

It was a combination of two things: IU shot 57 percent in the second half, and as Greg Anthony alluded to, IU switched up to a triangle and two on the defensive end, which slowed the Illini down a bit. Oh, also: Illinois stopped blocking all our shots.

Individually, Matt Roth continues to show no fear, as he went for 13 points on 4-of-7 shooting.

THE BAD AND UGLY:

Free throws. IU lost this game by 13 points. They missed 13 free throws. If they make half of those that they missed — in the six or seven range — the Hoosiers are in better shape the last few minutes of the game. And if they made them all, or close to them all, who knows?

The first half. I’m trying to block that out my memory of it, so I will just say one thing: It was bad. Real bad.

For the game, IU only turned the ball over 13 times.

THE GOOD (HEY, WE HAD TO LIST SOMETHING, RIGHT?):

Nick Williams. That pretty much sums it up. On a day when the Hoosiers came out with far less fight than needed to win in a hostile environment, Williams was the guy who tried to keep it respectable early. He scored 10 points in the first 13 minutes before disappearing until the 7:00 mark in the second half.

IU won the rebounding battle 35-23, but Illinois hardly missed so there weren’t many boards to corral.

THE BAD AND UGLY:

The injury to Devan Dumes. The one player Indiana can ill-afford to lose didn’t start the game (reportedly after he missed the team bus to Assembly Hall) and played just two minutes before injuring his right ankle. Dumes had to be carried off the floor by Tijan Jobe and Steven Gambles and returned to the bench during the second half on crutches. For all of his faults, Dumes is the one Indiana player that can create his shot consistently, even if he is streaky. Not. Good.

The lack of intensity. In a start that looked eerily similar to the Kentucky game last month, Indiana fell behind 21-2 and never matched the energy of Illinois. Perhaps it was a hangover from the Michigan debacle or maybe Illinois is just that much better than the Hoosiers, but it was discouraging nonetheless.

The turnovers are back. After cutting down on the turnovers the previous three games against Lipscomb (13), Iowa (11) and Michigan (16), Indiana was once again sloppy with the ball, coughing it up 18 times.

Defending the 3-pointer. Illinois hit 13 from behind the arc including seven from Trent Meacham and three by Dominique Keller, who had only hit four all season going into the game. Most of the looks were of the “nobody within four feet of the shooter” variety.

Expected to be a middle of the pack team in the Big Ten, Bruce Weber’s Illinois club is off to a 13-2 start and owns the most impressive conference win to-date: A 71-67 upset at Purdue in overtime.

A big reason for the turnaround from last year’s dismal 5-13 Big Ten campaign is Illinois’ ability to share the ball. They rank second nationally with 20.1 assists per game and are sixth in team assist-to-turnover ratio at + 1.5.

“They share the ball,” Indiana coach Tom Crean said. “We are really going to have to be on top of our game to move the basketball and match their ability to move the basketball.”

Four players are scoring in double figures for Illinois: Demetri McCamey (12.1), Mike Davis (11.9), Mike Tisdale (11.7) and Trent Meacham (11.7). Chester Frazier is the fifth Illini starter and averages 5.8 ppg, 4.6 rpg and 6.4 apg.

“Trent Meacham, I’ve been a fan of his for a long time, all the way back into high school. Chester Frazier is high-energy lighting ram,” Crean said. “He’s out there making things happen and delivering the basketball and defending. (Demetri) McCamey certainly has the ability to play inside or outside and (Mike) Tisdale is one of the more improved players anywhere in the country right now.”

Coming off of a 74-64 loss at Michigan that snapped a seven-game winning streak, Illinois will be hungry to get back on track and will need no extra motivation given the recent history between the programs. The Hoosiers won both games a season ago: 62-58 on Jan 13 in Bloomington and 83-79 on Feb 8 at Champaign in double overtime.

“We’ll learn from it (the loss at Michigan) and hopefully move forward,” Weber said. “We have a nice stretch here. You got four out of five at home. If you’re going to be in the Big Ten race, you got to take care of business and win your home games and see if you can sneak out road games.”

As the Hoosiers prepare to take on Illinois tomorrow afternoon, it’s the perfect time to relive one of the most moving speeches ever delivered.

Let me set the scene: It’s the 2005 National Championship game at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis. Coming off a comfortable 15-point win over Louisville, the Illini were ready to take on one of the most storied programs in college basketball, North Carolina. A win would mean their program would possibly become relevant. A loss and well, status quo: irrelevant.

So like any master motivator, Bruce Weber knew what he had to do: Deliver the words that would lead his men to the promised land. Like Winston Churchill before him, who said:

“Every day you may make progress. Every step may be fruitful. Yet there will stretch out before you an ever-lengthening, ever-ascending, ever-improving path. You know you will never get to the end of the journey. But this, so far from discouraging, only adds to the joy and glory of the climb.”

… Bruce knew this one had to be special. And indeed it was. Ladies and gentlemen, prepared to be moved by the … fist.

Jamar Smith, the Illinois guard (and convicted felon) who wrecked his car into a tree while driving drunk early in 2007, had his probation revoked and is being sought by police in Champaign County.

Here’s the scoop, according to The Champaign News-Gazette:

Champaign County State’s Attorney Julia Rietz told The News-Gazette the petition filed Tuesday alleges that Smith violated his probation by drinking alcohol over the weekend. A warrant for his arrest was issued Tuesday morning, and bond was set at $25,000.

The incident that led to the petition happened Friday outside Fubar, a campus bar. Champaign police investigated.

It’s decision time for our good friend Bruce. One has to believe that ties will be cut with Mr. Smith after this report, but with last year’s 13-16 debacle, Brucey might do all he can to keep this criminal around. Raise your hand if you feel sorry for Illinois.

Update: Jamar Smith dismissed from Illinois (FightingIllini.com)

Editor’s Note: Don’t forget to submit your list of the top 10 Indiana players of all-time.