3 Instant Takeaways from Indiana Basketball's 71-51 Loss at Illinois

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Darian DeVries stood motionless, his hands on his hips, watching as Keaton Wagler rose to his feet with help from his Illinois teammates.

Wagler, the Fighting Illini's freshman sensation, buried an and-one 3-pointer late in the shot clock to push Illinois' lead over the Hoosiers to 16 points less than seven minutes into the second half. Wagler's shot gave the Fighting Illini their largest lead to that point and delivered a punishing hit to Indiana's hopes of a second-half comeback.

The Hoosiers never pulled within single digits.

Indiana (17-9, 8-7 Big Ten) suffered a 71-51 loss to No. 8 Illinois (21-5, 12-3 Big Ten) on Sunday at State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois.

Here are three takeaways from the Hoosiers' loss to the Fighting Illini.

Wagler, Mirkovic and Illinois' size too much to slow down

Indiana coach Darian DeVries told reporters Friday the Hoosiers needed to prevent Illinois star freshman guard Keaton Wagler from scoring early, because once Wagler gets rolling, he's hard to slow down and is capable of accumulating points in a hurry.

The Hoosiers failed to accomplish that mission. Wagler scored 7 of Illinois' first 11 points and entered halftime with 11 points on 4-for-8 shooting — yet he wasn't the team's leading scorer. That honor belonged to freshman forward David Mirkovic, who tallied 15 first-half points on 6-for-9 shooting from the field.

All told, Wagler finished with 18 points to Mirkovic's 25, and the Fighting Illini collectively rolled offensively.

Illinois, which entered the day as the most efficient offensive team in KenPom history, shot 43.9% from the floor and went 7 of 31 from beyond the arc while averaging 1.315 points per possession.

Indiana faced a significant size advantage to Illinois, the tallest team in the nation, and the Hoosiers subsequently struggled on the glass. The Fighting Illini grabbed 38 rebounds to Indiana's 25 and earned 17 second-chance points to the Hoosiers' 5.

Wilkerson shines again, but Hoosiers lack scoring depth

Indiana sixth-year senior guard Lamar Wilkerson entered Sunday on the heels of a 41-point explosion against Oregon on Feb. 9, the latest in a long line of performances that vaulted him — in DeVries' eyes — into the Big Ten Player of the Year discussion.

The Ashdown, Ark., native added another strong day to his resume.

Wilkerson finished with 21 points on 8-for-14 shooting, including 2 of 7 from 3-point range, to go along with three rebounds and one assist.

Only two other Hoosiers reached double figures in senior forwards Tucker DeVries and Sam Alexis. DeVries scored 13 points but went only 5-for-12 shooting from the floor, while Alexis notched his third consecutive game in double digits with 11 points and eight rebounds.

Wilkerson, Alexis and DeVries were the only Hoosiers above 3 points.

Indiana shot just 40.8% from the field and made only 6 of 24 attempts from beyond the arc.

NCAA Tournament resume unaffected

The Hoosiers had a chance Sunday to add another marquee victory to their NCAA Tournament resume and secure their first road win over a ranked team in Darian DeVries' tenure. The fact Indiana's afternoon didn't go according to plan does little to change its postseason standing.

Illinois is ranked No. 8 in the polls and No. 7 in the NET. The Hoosiers fell to one of the nation's best teams on the road, in an arena where the Fighting Illini have now won 13 of their 15 games.

Victory would've bolstered Indiana's resume. Defeat does little to change the complexion of the Hoosiers' postseason hopes. They're still in the NCAA Tournament field with work to do over the final five games, starting at 8 p.m. Friday against No. 13 Purdue inside Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Indiana.