Translation: I follow Yogi Ferrell on Twitter, and just about 12 hours ago, he announced to the Twitter world (Tworld? Let’s make that happen) that he had, in fact, received an offer from IU.

“Got offered by IU,” Ferrell said via his Twitter account. This comes on the heels of a March 7 trip to Illinois to watch the Illini take on Wisconsin. That visit, according to Ferrell’s Twitter feed, (can’t you tell I’m enjoying this?) yielded an offer from Illinois as well. So according to Rivals, this brings Ferrell’s offer tally up to four, with IU and Illinois joining Butler and Purdue in the chase for the Park Tudor sophomore.

The 5-foot-10, 160-pound Ferrell, whose real first name, by the way, is Kevin, has been on the radar for quite some time. In fact, he was once considered the No. 1 player in the nation — in the fifth grade. I point you to this 2005 Indianapolis Star article, (in pdf format) which features Ferrell prominently in its exploration of what then qualified as a needs-to-be-explained phenomenon: basketball players getting attention from sportswear companies and other industry figures at an alarmingly-young age.

So add Ferrell, one of a number of talented 2012 prospects coming out of Indianapolis, to the list of prospects with a scholarship offer from IU.

It’s not that the Hoosiers played bad. They didn’t. It’s not that this was a game they should have won that they let slip away. It wasn’t. It’s that after Bill Cole hit that three to tie up the game, Devan Dumes traveled on IU’s next possession and Mike Tisdale hit two free throws on Illinois’ next trip down the court to put them up two with 3:19 to go — I felt like that was it. The whole second half I kept waiting for the Illini to go on a run, grab a couple-point lead with just a few minutes to play, and for it to be pretty much over. This is how I saw the game going in my mind after tying it up at half : IU playing well enough for 35 minutes or so, but eventually succumbing to the Illini and their screechy coach.

I was OK with this outcome; the other Assembly Hall is an incredibly difficult environment to play in, and for these young Hoosiers to bring it for that long and stay that close — no matter how average this Illinois team has looked at times this season — it was commendable. It was not ideal, but acceptable. It was good enough for me in this season where IU is starting to gain their footing again in the Big Ten conference.

But the Hoosiers had to tease me. Had to make me think, if only for a fleeting instance, that they had taken another step in their maturation process: not just a win on the road against a team that had yet to win a game in conference this season in Penn State, but against a team that holds serve on their home court like few others in the conference.

Verdell Jones hit two free throws to tie it. Tisdale hit a jumper to put the Illini back up by two. Dumes air-balled a three, but the Illini turned the ball back over. Then IU turned it right back over on an inbounds play. Tisdale hit another free throw with a minute to play — on a questionable foul call on Jeremiah Rivers as both went after a rebound –  to put the Ilini up three. Jones hit two free throws to put the Hoosiers down one after getting fouled by Jeff Jordan coming off a pick. The Illini, up two with 46 seconds left, had to hold the ball, hit a shot late in the shot clock, and you come pretty close to putting it away. But Rivers came up with a huge steal off Demetri McCamey and was subsequently fouled by D.J. Richardson.

Tell me you weren’t on the edge of your seat. Here was Rivers, a kid shooting only 51 percent from the free-throw line heading into this pressure-packed situation, a kid that missed four free throws in the final three minutes against Loyola (Md), a game IU eventually lost by five. This was dramatic theater.

And he hit them both. With ease. Tie ballgame. From there, we know what happened. The best player on the court — a guy that was hitting big shots and dishing with precision all game — hit the game-winner as the clock expired. Crushing. Heart-breaking. Depressing.

But you know what? This was the most exciting and nerve-racking three minutes of Hoosier basketball in the Tom Crean era. I don’t think there’s any debate on that. I would take this sort of loss over a 20-point blowout, something that could have easily happened when IU found themselves down 13 in the first half. I will take that over never being in the game, a situation last year’s Hoosiers certainly would have found themselves in.

IU has had its slip-ups and letdowns prior to the step forward this afternoon. It’s possible they’ll take another step back at some point, and perhaps come out flat and lose a game they should have won. But on afternoon’s like this, afternoon’s where IU goes on the road and has you riveted with every possession, every bounce of the ball, means this team is relevant again for fans. Miss a game, and you’re not missing some awful effort where a manager suits up and comes in to play, where a baseball player is getting playing time, where you’re looking for what else is on TV with 10 minutes to go; you’re missing a terrific, emotional Big Ten battle. Last year it was hard to care or get too emotionally invested when the Hoosiers were getting rocked game after game after game. Today, that’s all I found myself doing.

It was perhaps Steve Lavin who put it best (I’m paraphrasing here): “You’re getting a good look at the future of this Hoosier program right now with how they’re playing.”

That we were this afternoon. And I look forward to living and dying with this team in the years to come. For as much as today hurt, it’s better than feeling nothing at all.

One other thought:

Dumes had a bit of bad Devan tonight — an air-balled three to go along with his travel late in the game — but his play just before halftime was something I’m not sure I’ve ever seen before: a steal that led to a half-court heave that went in as time expired to tie up the game going into the locker room. Real cool.

And that’s how IU was able to stay close in this game: doing all the little things good teams are supposed to do. It was not only Rivers hitting those two important free throws; it was the team hitting 19-of-23 — including 13-of-14 in the second half — good for 82.6 percent. It was when they couldn’t get anything going down low, hitting six threes in the first half to keep it close, and finishing the game with nine makes overall from 3-point land, their highest total of the season. It was, with the shot clock at one second and IU getting a chance at an inbounds play, Verdell finding Tom Pritchard on a lob, Pritchard getting fouled in the act of shooting and hitting one of the free throws.

It was IU turning the ball over 13 times, not great, but below their season average.

OK, lest I run on forever, that’s about it. Your turn now.

Video via SB Nation.

I bring that up, because many of you have, at various points this season, asked for more visible improvement from the Indiana basketball team than what you’ve seen so far.

Well, I offer you this: Just 385 days after a 24-4 game-opening run begat a 76-45 pasting at the hands of the Illini, Indiana took what some considered an NCAA Tournament team inside the game’s last second — literally — before succumbing by just two points, 72-70 in one of the Big Ten’s toughest road environments.

No, this isn’t a moral victory. Moral victories are stupid. Really stupid. Annoyingly stupid. This was a loss, and surely a tough one to absorb.

But if you don’t look at this game and see the obvious improvement, then your eyes are closed.

The Hoosiers overcame a sluggish beginning with big early points from Jordan Hulls, who found his 3-point range to score 11 in the first half. Verdell Jones finished the period strong with 11 as well, and four assists.

We’ll always remember Devan Dumes’ halfcourt shot, when he poked the ball away from D.J. Richardson, chased down the loose ball and tied the game from midcourt, thumping his chest as his team skipped down the tunnel to halftime.

The shot was vital, obviously, because it capped a 16-4 Indiana run to end the half. But it also seemed like a turning point in the action, one that cued a more veteran performance from Indiana in the second half.

Yes, there were still turnovers, still head-scratching decisions. But there was also defensive focus, excellent individual performances and a collective team effort at the free-throw line (19-23) that has rarely been seen from this team in the last year-plus.

“We didn’t beat ourselves today and that’s the bottom line as you grow,” coach Tom Crean told Don Fischer on his postgame radio show. “You first have to learn how not to lose before you can win and we made a lot of strides in that area this week.”

Verdell Jones was immense, with 22 total points and a 10-of-12 mark from the charity stripe. Dumes and Hulls added 11 each off the bench and as a team, Indiana pulled down 17 offensive rebounds, had 22 points in the paint and outperformed Illinois 35-33 overall on the boards.

“Our confidence was high,” Crean said. “This team has to have an edge and an energy about them. And when they do, we play very well and we have a chance to win all the games that we’re in.”

In the end, Illinois won because IU had no answer for their post offense at times, and Demetri McCamey put in the kind of individual performance that made Kelvin Sampson so covet his services when the former was still balling up at St. Joseph.

You know, normal reasons for losing a basketball game. Isn’t that progress?

+ Box score

Obviously, the one factor that stands out among the rest and is also dominating the postgame discussion – free throws.

The free throw rate of 84.8 percent for Illinois was the defining number when you dig into the four factors. In fact, a quick glance at the Pomeroy Game Plan for the Fighting Illini shows it was easily their best performance in that area this season. (The runner-up? 48.4 percent back on November 17 against Northern Illinois.)

Free throw rate, for those of you unfamiliar with the term, measures the frequency at which a team makes it way to the line. It’s calculated by dividing a team’s free throw attempts by its number of field goal attempts.

The theory behind the importance of this number, according to Dean Oliver, is that by simply getting to the line, a team dramatically increases it chances of winning. Free throw rate does not take into account making free throws. But over the long haul, Oliver notes, “just getting to the line frequently wins a lot more games than missing a few freebies will lose.”

And last night, this theory rang true. It wasn’t that Illinois was flawless from the line – they shot 69.2 percent – but by the Illini’s sheer volume of attempts, Indiana was out-scored by 17 at the line.

The Good Hoosiers showed up tonight in Bloomington. After the Bad Hoosiers lacked any sense of urgency in Columbus earlier this week, IU was a completely different squad this evening. They played like they wanted to win, like they deserved to win.

Perhaps this is just what we’re in for this season: a bit of deer-in-the-headlights-what-are-we-doing play on the road, while on its home court, Indiana plays with the utmost confidence. If the Hoosiers can give this kind of effort inside Assembly Hall every time out, they’ll be in most, if not all, of their home contests.

IU rattled off 41 points in the first half, and looked like a team on a mission. They were executing at both ends of the floor. One thing I want to point out during that impressive first 20 minutes: there’s a reason Jordan Hulls is starting alongside Jeremiah Rivers in the backcourt: his spot-up shooting ability. When Rivers is at his best on the dribble-drive and can draw help defense, Hulls stays at home on the wing or corner and has enough spacing to elevate and hit the three. And Rivers is athletic enough to take it all the way to the hole as well.

But when you’re hot, hot, hot, in the first half, you’re bound to cool in the second. Sure, the Hoosiers lacked some of that aggression and allowed Illinois to mount a comeback with their fouling, but IU’s shooting numbers tell a hot and cold tale: first half (14-of-25, 56 percent; 5-of-6 from three for 83.3 percent), second half (8-of-28, for 28.6 percent, 1-of-7 from three for 14.3 percent).

I expected Illinois to come back tonight, because it’s what they’ve done all season long: mount a comeback on a double-digit lead, get it close, and then go to war in the final few minutes. The Illini simply executed better down the stretch. Bruce Weber drew up a play for freshman D.J. Richardson when they were down one with 1:22 to go, and he hit the jumper. They hit their free throws down the stretch as well. IU didn’t, and hit a horrific scoring skid the last 8:28 of the game, getting outscored 18-3. They only scored 19 points in the second half.

Simply put, the better, more experienced team found a way to win this game this evening, because that’s what those kind of teams do. IU is still figuring that out, and it was frustrating to see all the good the Hoosiers did in the first half come in a losing effort. The IU team of a season ago gets routed in this game. This current incarnation plays well enough, but can’t finish. Future incarnations find a way to win this game.

In due time, they’ll get there.

THE BAD AND UGLY: FOULS.

I’m not here to complain about the refs. There were only a few calls I wasn’t a fan of, and they really could have gone either way. But Indiana was so foul-happy tonight — and it wasn’t just on shot attempts, it was reach-ins, and moving screens, and fouls off the ball — that Illinois got a whopping 38 attempts at the line. And it was a big chunk of their first-half offense: Illinois took 23 fouls shots, and hit 16 of them. They had 28 points at half, so only 12 points came in other ways besides the charity stripe. IU also got crushed on the boards in the second half, getting out-rebounded 24-13.

The Illini were in the bonus early in the second half, and it allowed them to chop away at the lead without any time coming off the clock. They hit 11 of their 16 second-half attempts from the line, including some key ones in the clutch.

There’s a fine line between being aggressive and being over-aggressive when playing defense, and the Hoosiers crossed it at points tonight. Yet, this was just a Big-Ten bruiser of a game: it was physical, it was heated, and you saw some jawing and pushing on the court.

Perhaps the younger, less experienced team played into that a bit too much with all the fouling going on this evening.

We’ve reached out to Paul Klee, the Illinois basketball beat writer for The Champaign News-Gazette, to answer five questions for the Illinois edition of Know Thy Opponent. You can follow Paul on Twitter here. The transcript of our Q & A, conducted via e-mail, is below:

It’s been an up-and-down start to this season for the Illini. They’re 10-5, including a solid come from behind win at Clemson in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge and then a few disappointing losses: Utah, Bradley and Georgia. Preseason, Illinois was a top 25 team in the AP Poll. What’s been the reaction in Champaign of how this team has performed thus far?

The fans have been hugely supportive of this team. The crowd for the Gonzaga game was the biggest United Center crowd for an Illinois game since the Final Four season in ‘04-05. It was loud, too, despite a
21-point deficit. The Big Ten opener was a sellout and played a big part in Illinois beating Northwestern. Illinois fans are a resilient group.

There is disappointment, and there should be. Illinois hasn’t played up to expectations and the preseason ranking you talked about. Expectations for the freshmen were way too high. But I think the fans see it’s their most talented team since Dee Brown and James Augustine, and they recognize this group has promise. Truth is, this team is going to be defined by what it does in the postseason – if it gets there.

One Illinois player that’s really come into his own this season is forward Mike Davis (no, not that Mike Davis, Hoosier fans). He’s leading the team in minutes (32.1), rebounding (10.0) and is second in scoring (12.4). What’s been the key to his emergence?

Mike Davis emerged last season, really. He was a second-team All-Big Ten guy, ranked second in the league in rebounding. Once in a while, in practice and in games, he’ll go on a run where you’re surprised if he
missed a shot. He has a natural scoring ability. It comes easy to him. He doesn’t play hard enough all the time. He knows that. As soon as he decides to box out, it’s not a stretch to say he could lead the nation in rebounding. He’s a laid back guy. That personality clashes with Bruce Weber, who’s high-energy 24/7, and they’ve had their share of run-ins in practice. But Weber really likes Mike, and he knows how good he can be.

In the latest issue of ESPN the Magazine, Jay Bilas said freshman guards Brandon Paul and D.J. Richardson have yet to adapt to Bruce Weber’s complex motion offense. Do you agree with that assessment? Have you seen progress from them so far?

The best and the worst thing Brandon Paul could’ve done was score 42 points over his first two games. That has a way of raising expectations. He’s a gifted athlete. I think it took Paul and Richardson a while to learn that stuff they got away with in high school wouldn’t work at Illinois. They would get in the air with nowhere to go. Both had a tough time fighting through screens.

They’re freshmen. Too much is expected of freshmen. That’s a nationwide thing and a product of recruiting rankings and Internet hype. I wrote before the season these weren’t blue-chip program-changers, and that description bothered some fans. But it’s true. There are very few of those. I think if you told Weber in October that Richardson would shoot 46 percent from 3, Paul would lead the team in Matto (hustle) points, and they’d average 21 points together, he’d take it.

The relationship between Indiana and Illinois obviously hit a low point a few years ago during the whole Eric Gordon fiasco. Now that Indiana has gotten rid of Kelvin Sampson, cleaned house and hired Tom Crean, has the level of resentment from the Illini side towards IU tempered at all?

No, not really. Illinois fans really dislike Indiana. That started long before Sampson and EJ Gordon. If you break it down to the coaching staff, Illinois’ has decades of reasons to enjoy beating Indiana. Weber also spent 18 seasons at Purdue. Jay Price spent 10 years at Purdue. Wayne McClain’s in his ninth season at Illinois, and his son almost attended Indiana. One of Jerrance Howard’s closest friends is A.J. Guyton. Jerrance played against Indiana and believes it’s a more important game than, say, Missouri. So there’s a long history there. You’re talking about a coaching staff that has a combined 54-plus seasons playing and/or coaching against Indiana. It’s not just a Sampson thing or a Gordon thing.

Finish this sentence: Illinois wins Saturday’s game in Bloomington if …

… it doesn’t start flat. Your Assembly Hall wouldn’t be conducive to another Illinois comeback. The Illini started slowly in losses to Bradley, Georgia, Missouri and Gonzaga. And Demetri McCamey is the best player for either team. He’s the key for Illinois – Saturday and beyond. If Illinois has a good start and plays solid defense, it wins.