No. 18 Illinois Buries Indiana with Second-Half Run, Wins 74-57

It took a while, but powerful Illinois finally got the best of Indiana on Saturday, surging to a 74-57 win with a furious second half rally to keep control of its lead in the Big Ten.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — There are several reasons why Illinois is in first place in the Big Ten, and they were all on display in an impressive second-half blowout of Indiana on Saturday at Assembly Hall. 

No. 18-ranked Illinois (17-5, 10-2 in the Big Ten) has a great big man in 7-footer Kofi Cockburn, and a slew of three-point shooters and ball-hawking defenders. They all combined to strangle the Hoosiers late, and roll to what turned out to be a pretty easy 74-57 victory. 

Indiana is now 16-6 overall and 7-5 in the league.

Indiana actually led by two at halftime (36-34), and did it despite star Trayce Jackson-Davis only playing four minutes after picking up two quick fouls. Indiana still led 46-42 seven minutes into the second half, but then Jacob Grandison hit back-to-back three-pointers for the Illini, and they never looked back. Illinois outscored Indiana 32-11 the rest of the way.

"You've got to give them credit. They put a solid 40-minute ballgame together and we put a 20-minute ballgame together,'' Indiana coach Mike Woodson said. "When we've lost games, that's been either rebounding or not defending the three-point line. I thought we were pretty good on the boards tonight. It wasn't too bad.

"But the three-point shot got away from us again. I thought the two big threes that Jacob hit was really the turning point in the downward spiral of our ballclub after he made two threes, because we never really recovered from it.''

The expected battle of two of the country's best big men — Illinois' Kofi Cockburn and Indiana's Trayce Jackson-Davis — never really materialized. Jackson-Davis picked up two fouls in the first four minutes of the game, and didn't score at all in the first half.

With Jackson-Davis out, backup center Michael Durr and Race Thompson were forced to deal with the 7-foot, 285-pound Cockburn, and they held him to 2-of-7 shooting and just five first-half points. Neither star was really a factor early.

Jackson-Davis struggled in the second half, as well. He finished with just six points in 23 minutes, making just 3-of-9 shots. It was eerily similar to his performance against Purdue on Jan. 20, when he was in foul trouble and scored only four points. This time, though, his teammates couldn't pick him up.

Cockburn could be blamed for that. He took control in the second half, and was 4-for-5 shooting from the field and made 4-of-5 free throws. He finished with 17 points

Illinois senior point guard Trent Frazier was really good, too. He finished with 23 points to lead all scorers, and had two of Illinois' six second-half three-pointers. 

That 32-11 run to end the game was rough on both ends for Indiana. Illinois got too many easy looks, and Indiana's offense got stagnant — and stayed stagnant.

"You've got to give some credit to Illinois. They played us tough,'' said Thompson, who led Indiana with 13 points but was just 5-for-13 shooting. "Yeah, definitely, I missed some chippies. I wish I could have them back. I'm frustrated with myself. We've got to get back to work I can't hang my head on that. So, really, that's all it is. I wish I could have them back, but it's too late now. We've got to go to Northwestern (on Tuesday).''

The disturbing trend in Indiana's six losses is that team's have gotten hot from three-point range against them. Illinois made 10 threes on Saturday; conversely Indiana was just 3-for-13 from deep. 

"Yeah, the first half we were playing really good on the three-point line and then the second half, we faded away a little bit,'' Thompson said. "That's where we've got to be better. It's happened before in the past with us.

"And we've really got to put 40 minutes together. The game's not over at halftime. So I think that's one our main things, putting two halves together and continuing to play the game.'' 

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• INDIANA VS. ILLINOIS PHOTO GALLERY: Look at more than 15 photos from Indiana's matchup against Illinois at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. The Hoosiers won the first half but fell apart in the second and were beat 74-57 by the Fighting Illini. CLICK HERE
• WHAT WOODSON SAID: Here's what Indiana coach Mike Woodson said after the Hoosiers' loss to Illinois. CLICK HERE
• HOOSIERS VS. ILLINI LIVE BLOG: Indiana is two games behind Illinois in the Big Ten race, but they get a chance to cut into that lead on Saturday when the two teams get together at Assembly Hall. Here's our live blog. CLICK HERE.
• INDIANA SLIGHT FAVORITE OVER ILLINOIS: Illinois might have a two-game lead on Indiana in the Big Ten standings, but it's the Hoosiers who are a slight favorite in Saturday's game at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. Homecourt advantage carries a lot of weight. Here is the opening line as of Saturday morning, and a complete review of both teams against the spread all season. CLICK HERE