Hoosiers Find a Way to Finish Once Again, Knock Off Illinois, 71-68
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — There were many things that have frustrated Indiana fans the past several years, but right at the top of that list was the Hoosiers' inability to finish games.
That's a trend that seems to be disappearing this year, and it was clearly evident on Saturday, when the No. 14-ranked Hoosiers erased a nine-point second-half deficit and made plays late to steal a 71-68 victory over Illinois at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
That tide is clearly turning.
And it's a good thing it has. This was a huge win for Indiana, raising its record to 19-8 overall and 10-6 in the Big Ten with four games to go. Only Purdue (12) has more league wins.
Trayce Jackson-Davis led the way with 26 points and 12 rebounds, and freshman point guard Jalen Hood-Schifino made several clutch plays in the final minute to seal the victory. All those big plays came at the end of a rough game for him.
His confidence, though, never wavers, even in the most pressure-packed moments.
"Fino, he's a gamer,'' Jackson-Davis said of his freshman point guard. "He works hard every day and he has the ultimate confidence in his abilities. Obviously he's a freshman, and sometimes he's going to struggle. That's when I come in, Miller (Kopp) comes in, and we get behind him and we tell him to keep going.
"I remember in the last media timeout, I said, 'if we run that high angle, get to your spot because you're going to be open.' He was kind of frustrated a little bit, he didn't really want to run it, and then down the stretch he got to that spot and hit a huge shot, especially after turning the ball over. It just shows how high of like a focus he has, and he's just next-play mentality, and he's just ready to go always.''
The Hoosiers closed this one out in style. They trailed by nine with 12:41 to go, but then started pecking away and it was basically a one-possession, high-intensity game throughout the final seven minutes.
Indiana finally tied the game at 56-56 with 6:27 to go, and they tied it again on five different occasions without being able to get ahead.
Indiana, which has now won three straight games against Illinois, made a stop at 65-all, but out of the timeout, Hood-Schifino made a bad pass and Coleman Hawkins scored on an easy dunk to make it 67-65 with 1:28 to go.
But the freshman shook off the mistake and hit a pull-up jumper to tie it at 67-all with 1:17 to go. Miller Kopp then made another big last-minute defensive play, and it was Indiana's ball again. Mike Woodson called timeout with 43.7 seconds to go, and Hood-Schifino was fouled with 30.7 seconds left. He made both free throws to give Indiana a 69-67 lead.
There was a ticky-tack call on Hood-Schifino on a drive by Jaylen Epps with 16.7 seconds to go, but Epps missed the first free throw. Indiana calls a quick timeout before the second attempt, which he made.
Illinois pressed, but the Hoosiers were able to break it and get the ball upcourt to Jackson-Davis, who dunked to put Indiana ahead 71-68. Illinois' RJ Melendez actually got a good look at a three before the buzzer, but it rattled out and Indiana snuck off with a victory, thanks to a freshman who struggled on the night, but wouldn't quit. He finished with 13 points.
"He's a freshman, and freshmen make mistakes,'' Woodson said. "I just look at the process of where he's come from and the fact when you lose your starting point guard in Xavier Johnson and you turn the ball over to a freshman to run your ballclub at a major program, that's huge. It's huge.
"Make no mistake about it, he's put us in in position along with the supporting cast with Trayce Jackson-Davis leading the way. You're not going to shoot it well all the time, but I always judge players at the end of the game about who they are as a player, and he made the plays down the stretch that counted. That's what I look at. He made every right play except for throwing the ball away out of the timeout. As a coach, that kind of tears you up. But I thought he made winning plays coming down the stretch to help us win it.''
Jackson-Davis did, too. He passed his coach for No. 5 on Indiana's all-time scoring list in the first half, which was full of struggles for the Hoosiers. Illinois, which lost at home to Indiana by 15 points in January, was the more aggressive team. They got plenty of good looks, hit six three-pointers and had 10 offensive rebounds in the first half alone. They were lucky to only be trailing 38-35 at the break.
Indiana players got an earful from Woodson at halftime.
"I thought they were the most aggressive team the first half and we were just playing on our heels,'' Woodson said. "It wasn't pretty basketball in the first half, I didn't think. The first half we were getting beat on the boards. They won all the 50/50 balls. We were just moving in slow motion, I thought. It was heated in the locker room at halftime a little bit.
"But I thought we came out, we just kept scrapping and scraping, and we made a game out of that at the end and were able to do it what we needed to do to win.''
It took a while to make headway in the second half, but the defensive effort was much better. The Illini were 0-for-8 from deep in the second half after going 6-for-12 in the first. Michael Mayer, who finished with 24 points for the Illini, had four threes in the first half, and scored 16 points.
Kopp heard all about that at halftime from Woodson.
"Pretty much, he was just saying I had to step up,'' Kopp said. "(Mayer) got too many good looks in the first half from transition, from broken plays and a couple of my mishaps just mentally and not being aware and really locked in.
"(Woodson) just got into me and pretty much let me know I had to step up and be more active and aware off the ball and do my work early.''
Aside from Kopp's big defensive plays late in the game, he also played well offensively. He made 4-of-5 three-pointers himself, with the last one tying the game at 59-59 with 5:22 to go.
After a rough night at Northwestern, he bounced back nicely in front of the friendly home fans on Saturday.
"Miller has been around a long time, and that Northwestern scene is not a good scene for him, going back to last season,'' Woodson said of Kopp. "It is what it is, man, but the bottom line, he's played well here at home for us. So I expect him to make shots here.
"He's got the fan base, and he's got everybody in his corner, so it makes it a lot easier for him.''
Indiana has four regular season games left, two on the road next week at Michigan State on Tuesday and at Purdue on Saturday. They finish the regular season at home with Iowa and Michigan the following week.
Catching Purdue (12-4) to win the Big Ten is a longshot now after Wednesday's loss at Northwestern, but getting a top-four seed in the Big Ten Tournament is a big deal. As of Saturday afternoon, Indiana would be the No. 3 seed and would get a double-bye into Friday's quarterfinals.
Trayce Jackson-Davis had his fourth career game with 25 or more points, 10 or more rebounds and five more blocks on Saturday. The entire Big Ten combined has recorded just five such games in the last 25 seasons — with no player having more than one. Jackson-Davis now has 2,081 career points.
Related stories on Indiana basketball
- WATCH JACKSON-DAVIS CLIMB SCORING LIST: Indiana forward Trayce Jackson-Davis passed his coach Mike Woodson for fifth on the Indiana all-time scoring list on Saturday against Illinois. CLICK HERE
- WATCH JACKSON-DAVIS TRIM LEAD: Indiana forward Trayce Jackson-Davis came down with a loose ball and laid it in just before halftime of Saturday's game against Illinois. CLICK HERE
- LIVE BLOG: Relive the game in real time from Tom Brew's live blog straight from press row at Assembly Hall. CLICK HERE
