At the buzzer: Illinois 75, Indiana 71
Quick thoughts on a 75-71 overtime loss to Illinois:
How it happened: In a game it needed to win to bolster its NCAA tournament chances, Indiana came out and played arguably its best first half of the season on Thursday night in Assembly Hall. Despite continued struggles by Trayce Jackson-Davis against Kofi Cockburn, the Hoosiers rode a solid first half offensive performance (1.25 PPP) and led No. 12 Illinois by seven at halftime. Indiana had just four turnovers in the first half, made 10 of its 13 free throw attempts and grabbed five offensive rebounds that led to seven second-chance points. A long two by Jackson-Davis at the end of the half sent a confident Indiana team to the locker room feeling good about its chances for an upset.
Illinois, however, had an answer in the second half. The Fighting Illini tightened things up defensively and as Indiana turned it over frequently, Illinois needed less than seven minutes to erase Indiana’s seven-point lead. By the 13:17 mark, Illinois led 48-47 on a 3-point play by Kofi Cockburn. Despite a lengthy field goal drought by the Hoosiers, Illinois was unable to stretch its lead beyond three and by the under eight media timeout, Indiana led 59-56 after a Jackson-Davis layup. After the Hoosiers opened a six-point lead with 5:12 to play, Trent Frazier answered with back-to-back 3-pointers to tie the game at 64. Race Thompson hit a pair of free throws with 2:56 to tie the game at 66 and neither team scored again until a pair of Frazier free throws gave Illinois a 2-point lead with 42.5 seconds to play. Indiana took a timeout with 39 seconds to play and Armaan Franklin tied it at 68 with 30.5 seconds to play. Illinois had no timeouts and a Kofi Cockburn shot in the lane rimmed out with just over three seconds to play. The Hoosiers called timeout with a half-second to play and didn’t get a shot off to close out regulation.
Indiana scored just one field goal in overtime, a Race Thompson bucket with just over seven seconds to play. After Armaan Franklin split a pair of free throws with 4.5 seconds to play, Da’Monte Williams made a pair of free throws with 2.9 seconds to play to give Illinois a 75-71 win.
Standout performer: Jackson-Davis had a tough shooting night, but still managed a double-double with 19 points and 14 rebounds in 40 minutes.
Statistics that stands out: Indiana turned it over 15 times, missed 11 free throws and shot just 39.1 percent on 2s in the loss.
Final IU individual statistics:
Final tempo-free statistics:
Filed to: Illinois Fighting Illini