Indiana Lets Opportunity Slip Away at Illinois With More Dreadful Shooting
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — It was there for the taking. Right there.
And then it wasn't.
Indiana did a lot of things right on Saturday against No. 10 Illinois. Enough to win, really. But down the stretch, their season-long shooting woes came back to bite them once again. They missed 10 free throws and all nine three-pointers in a 70-62 loss to the Illini that was much closer that the final score dictates.
It was the first time the Hoosiers failed to make a three-pointer since a 2010 loss to Wisconsin.
"That was the difference. Close games on the road, or anywhere, you've got to make free throws,'' Indiana coach Mike Woodson said. "We were 12-for-22, so that was not good for our ballclub, and we missed them at critical times when we needed them. When you're on the road, you've got to do almost everything right to come out with a win.
"Again, it's a fine line in winning on the road, man. You've got to do almost everything right, like make your free throws, don't go 0-for-9 from shooting the three-point ball. I mean, we had good looks. We just didn't make them.''
The poor shooting was prevalent throughout the game, but it really showed up late. Indiana was trailing 64-62 with 53 seconds to go when point guard Xavier Johnson was fouled on a drive. He's a career 77 percent free throw shooter, but he missed them both and the Hoosiers wouldn't score again.
Illinois scored on its next possession, and then Terrence Shannon Jr. made four free throws to close out the game. The eight-point margin was their largest of the game by far.
Indiana got a lot out of guards throughout the game, which hasn't been the case lately. Trey Galloway and Johnson — who got the start after three games on the bench — each had eight points in the first half. Johnson finished with 14, but was just 2-for-7 from the line.
The Hoosiers led for most of the first half, but the Illini went on a 12-2 run to grab a 38-30 lead. Johnson scored on a drive at the buzzer, but then threw the ball to Illinois' Coleman Hawks after time had expired. He was given a technical foul, and Illinois made both free throws to start the second half.
The Hoosiers came firing to start the second half, too, and built a 49-42 lead. Illinois went on a 9-0 run again, but the Hoosiers didn't crumble. They hung in, and no one led by more than three points for more than six minutes.
The late breakdowns spoiled a great day from sophomore forward Malik Reneau, who had 21 points and seven rebounds before fouling out with 3:01 to go and the Hoosiers trailing by two.
"Malik's been solid, man. What can you say?'' Woodson said. "He's a sophomore that's starting to figure it out. He's improved from the time he came in here as a freshman and I can't help but think he'll continue to grow if he continues to work, and he does. We've just got to get everybody involved who's playing to be playing at a higher level to help him and to help us win basketball games.''
The Hoosiers, who were 14.5-point underdogs entering the game — the largest point spread of the year, and now 12-8 on the season and 4-5 in the Big Ten. It was their fourth straight road loss, and the second straight game they've played without 7-foot center Kel'el Ware, who's out with an ankle injury.
Anthony Walker started and played a season-high 31 minutes. The other four starters all played 34 minutes or more.
The smaller lineup was great for matching up with Illinois, which likes to play five-out often. Having a week to prepare, the Hoosiers were very good defensively, holding the Illini to just 70 points, which has happened only three times all year. They switched most everything one-through-five and caused a lot of problems.
"When teams force you to do that, all Big Ten teams are not small playing like that. Illinois is pretty much really the only team that plays like that, so they force your hand,'' Woodson said. "It would have been interesting to see if the big fella did play where I could fit him in, because I could just put him at the rim like (Purdue) does with (Zach) Edey and you just protect the rim and you figure it out from there.
"But I didn't have to do that tonight. I feel like our guys played a solid game based on the scouting report.''
Illinois is now 15-5 and 6-3 in the Big Ten. The Hoosiers are back home next week for games with Iowa on Tuesday and Penn State on Saturday afternoon.
Related stories on Indiana-Illinois
- WHAT WOODSON SAID: Indiana coach Mike Woodson met with the media following Saturday's 70-62 loss to Illinois. He praised young stars Malik Reneau and Mackenzie Mgbako, but bemoaned missing 10 free throws and going 0-for-9 from three-points as the reason for the defeat. CLICK HERE
- WATCH XAVIER JOHNSON TECHNICAL: Indiana senior point guard Xavier Johnson received a technical foul for passing the ball to Coleman Hawkins after making a layup just before the first-half buzzer at Illinois. Watch the replay here. CLICK HERE
- LIVE BLOG: Welcome to our live blog for Saturday's game between Indiana and No. 10 Illinois at 3 p.m. ET at the State Farm Center in Champaign, Ill., where we'll share live updates, highlights and thoughts on the game. CLICK HERE
- POINT SPREAD: Mike Woodson has coached 89 games at Indiana, and he's never been this big of an underdog as he is at Illinois on Saturday. The 14.5-point line surpasses the previous mark by two. Here's the latest on the point spread, plus a great history of both teams. CLICK HERE
