Illinois Leaves Indiana With Newfound Belief Despite Loss

Illinois suffered a 71-68 loss on Saturday at Indiana, but coach Brad Underwood said he believes in his team more right now than he has at any point this season.

Jack Ankony | Feb 18, 2023

In this story:

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – "Overtime."

That's what Illinois coach Brad Underwood said as RJ Melendez released a 3-pointer from the right wing.

Back rim. No overtime.

Instead of five extra minutes in Saturday's back-and-forth battle at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, Indiana completed its season sweep of Illinois with a 71-68 victory.

"They doubled me and I had a bounce pass to a wide-open RJ, and we're living with that every time," Illinois senior forward Matthew Mayer said. "That was a great look. We're super happy with that."

Despite the loss, which drops Illinois to 17-9 overall and 8-7 in the Big Ten, Underwood had a number of positive takeaways.

"I don't know if proud's the right word," Underwood started his opening statement. "Excited. Elated. Great college basketball game. Elite game. And unfortunately, we haven't played these guys healthy, but I'm a much bigger believer in our team right now than I have been at any point this season."

Illinois entered the game without senior guard Terrence Shannon Jr., who leads the team with 17 points per game. Shannon suffered a concussion on Tuesday at Penn State, and remains in concussion protocol. Underwood also said Ty Rodgers didn't practice all week due to strep throat, and Melendez woke up sick on Friday morning.

But even without Shannon, the Illini came out firing on offense, especially Mayer. The 6-foot-9 transfer from Baylor didn't score in 22 minutes of action when he was sick against Indiana on Jan. 19. But in the first half alone on Saturday, Mayer totaled 16 points on 4-for-7 shooting from three-point range.

"We got the ball to Matt any time we wanted," Underwood said. "He was the best player, other than Trayce, he was the best player on the court today."

The Illini went into halftime with a three-point lead after leading by as much as eight points in the first 20 minutes. Underwood made an important adjustment from the last matchup against Indiana, bringing more double-teams and pressure on Indiana star forward Jackson-Davis. Though Jackson-Davis finished with 26 points, 12 rebounds, five blocks and two assists, the pressure caused five turnovers. As a team, Indiana turned the ball over 14 times, which led to 16 Illinois points.

"I thought we did a great job on Trayce," Underwood said. "I know what Mike [Woodson] is feeling. When you have one of the best players in the country, if not the best player, it's a pretty good feeling."

Mayer went cold in the second half, scoring eight points on 1-for-7 shooting. He got to the free throw line, where he made 6-of-7 attempts, but a better second half performance could have made for a different result.

"If you look at my shots, I was pretty much shooting wide-open shots," Mayer said of his second-half looks. "The exact ones I wanted to, and I just missed them."

Illinois led by nine points with 12:41 left in the second half after a pair of Jayden Epps free throw, but Indiana began to slowly chip away. The Hoosiers tied the game for the first time in the second half with a Jackson-Davis layup at the 6:27 mark, and they tied the game five more times down the stretch.

Coleman Hawkins jumped the passing lane on a bad turnover from Jalen Hood-Schifino, which gave Illinois a two-point lead with 1:28 to play. But Hood-Schifino looked past his mistake and confidently knocked down a mid-range jumper to tie the game yet again.

After Miller Kopp stole the ball from Ty Rodgers, Hood-Schifino hit a pair of free throws that gave Indiana its first lead since midway through the first half. Epps went 1-for-2 at the free throw line with a chance to tie the game. Illinois' press nearly forced a 10-second violation, but Trey Galloway broke free, which led to a Jackson-Davis slam dunk to give Indiana a three-point lead with six seconds remaining.

Indiana led for just 30 second in the second half, but that's all it needed.

After Melendez's missed 3-pointer at the buzzer, Underwood walked away from the game thinking both Indiana and Illinois can make a long run in the NCAA Tournament. Mayer agrees.

"I still believe we're one of the best teams in the country," Mayer said. "I think we can play with anybody."

Moving forward, Illinois is part of a highly-contested race toward the top of the Big Ten standings, with six teams at eight or nine wins on Saturday afternoon. Indiana moves to 19-8 overall and 10-6 in the Big Ten.

Next up for Illinois is a home game against Minnesota, which tips off at 9 p.m. ET on Monday. Minnesota is in last place in the Big Ten with a 7-16 record overall and 1-12 mark in conference play.

"I feel really upbeat," Underwood said. "And fortunately, we're going to turn around and play again here Monday in a COVID makeup game. So we've got to take the same kind of energy and turn that into a game on Monday."

Related stories on Indiana basketball