LIVE BLOG: Follow Indiana's Game at Illinois in Real Time
CHAMPAIGN, Ill — Indiana is back on the road on Thursday night, taking on Illinois in a critical Big Ten game for both teams. Welcome to our live blog, where we will keep you updated with the news and views from the game live from press row here at the State Farm Center.
Illinois has won four games in a row and are playing well. Indiana has lost three of four, but won the last time out, looking good in beating Wisconsin 63-45 last Saturday. They are a6.5-point favorite over the Hoosiers at game time.
The game starts at 8:30 p.m. ET, and is on FOX Sports 1. Here's everything you need to know on how to watch the game, with a full preview as well. CLICK HERE All the latest items are at the top, so just keep refreshing. Enjoy the game!
10:30 p.m. — Two huge baskets by Trey Galloway and the lead is back up to 16. We're at the under-8 timeout finally, and Indiana leads 70-54 with 6:35 to go.
10:25 p.m. — Illinois is pressing now and has forced two 10-second violations. Jalen Hood-Schifino picks up a charging foul and now he and Trey Galloway both have four fouls with eight-plus minutes to go. It's back to a 12-point game now.
MY TWO CENTS: Hundreds of Illinois fans are heading to the exits already, and they never got to chant their ''Your Fans Hate You'' chants at the Indiana player. Oh, the best laid plans.
10:15 p.m. — Trayce Jackson-Davis hits an 8-footer and Indiana leads by 20 now. It's their biggest lead of the game at 64-44. Trayce has 26 now. ... He scores again on the next possession and Brad Underwood has to call another timeout. It's 66-45 now with 10:13 to go.
10:10 pm. — Miller Kopp makes a three-pointer at the 12:19 mark. It's his first field goal of the game. Let's see if he can get another one. He hasn't had a multiple three-pointer game since Dec. 20. We're at the under-12 timeout and Indiana leads 62-44.
10:06 p.m. — Indiana takes an early timeout, with Mike Woodson wanting to keep this team focused. Hoosiers lead 57-41 with 13:13 to go.
10:01 p.m. — Trayce Jackson-Davis finally misses a shot, but then scores again. He's got 22 points now and Indiana leads 55-39 with 15:22 to go. A great first five minutes for sure, just like we asked for.
9:56 p.m. — Brad Underwood just went all Fran McCaffery on the refs and gets a technical foul. Miller Kopp misses the first free throw, though, then hits the second.
9:52 p.m. — Trayce Jackson-Davis is just toying with Illinois center Dain Dainja tonight. He's 9-for-9 from the field and just blew right past him for a dunk. Indiana leads 50-38 with 17:08 to go. No real adjustments by Brad Underwood,
MY TWO CENTS: Let's be honest, we've been here a few times before with this Indiana team. They've had a very hard time closing out games on the road for years now, and that lead went from 19 to 10 too easily. First four minutes of the second half are going to be huge.
9:40 p.m. — Miller Kopp's line in the first half: 14 minutes played, no shots, no rebounds, one assist, three steals. In other words, nothing has changed.
HALFTIME — Illinois hits three threes in the final two-plus minutes, and we go to the break with Indiana leading 43-33. Illinois made only one of its first six three-point attempts. IU's defense has been better, but they need to keep it up for 20 more minutes.
9:30 p.m. — It doesn't get more efficient than this: Trayce Jackson-Davis and Jordan Geronimo are both 6-for-6 from the field
9:25 p.m. — We've hit the under-4 media timeout and Indiana leads 39-25. The lead got up to 19, but the Illini are scratching back a little bit. Jordan Geronimo (13) and Jalen Hood-Schifino (10) both in double figures.
9:15 p.m. — Indiana's lead is up to 17 now at 31-14 after a couple of Illinois turnovers. Jordan Geronimo scores again, and Brad Underwood has to take a second timeout. 33-14 now with 6:18 to go.
9:10 p.m. — We're at the under-8 timeout and Indiana leads 26-14 with 7:46 to go. Jordan Geronimo leads with nine points on 4-of-4 shooting, and has four rebounds as well. Indiana is 12-of-19 from the field, an impressive 63.2 percent.
9:05 p.m. — Indiana doing a nice job defensively. Illinois is just 3-for-12 from the field. Hoosiers leads 26-12 with 8:38 to go. Back-to-back-to-back scores by Jalen Hood-Schifino.
8:55 p.m. — Re Indiana ''rivals:" Purdue is Indiana's biggest rival. Kentucky USED TO BE biggest rival. Down the list, but STILL a rival, is Illinois. I listened to Bob Knight go on and on how he hated them, and wanted to beat their ass, as Isiah Thomas would say, EVERY SINGLE DAY!
8:50 p.m. — Trey Galloway gets called for his second foul on the inbounds play, and he has to sit down. Tamar Bates comes in. Illinois' RJ Melendez gets called for flopping, but Miller Kopp misses the free throw. It's his first miss of the year after 12 straight.
8:45 p.m. — Trayce Jackson-Davis scored, and then Trey Galloway hits a three to give Indiana a 12-4 lead. After an Indiana free throw, Trayce scores again and it's 14-5. Trayce Jackson-Davis gets called for a foul and then a technical foul got called on the Indiana bench. Illinois just 3-for-6 from the free throw line so far, which is helping.
8:40 p.m. — That timeout clearly worked. Indiana on a 7-0 run now, with back-to-back baskets by Jordan Geronimo, including an open three from the top of the key. We hit the first media timeout, and Indiana leads 7-4 with 15:29 to go in the first half.
8:35 p.m. — Indiana opens the game with two turnovers, and coach Mike Woodson is upset. Calls a timeout at the 18:07 mark down 4-0. Trey Galloway scores right out of the break.
8:30 p.m. — Today's officials: Terry Oglesby, Don Daily, Doug Sirmons
8:15 p.m. — Same starting lineup for Indiana: It's Trayce Jackson-Davis and Jordan Geronimo up front, with Miller Kopp, Jalen Hood-Schifino and Trey Galloway on the perimeter.
8:10 p.m. — The Illinois students are prepped and primed to give Indiana some grief tonight. They've been emailing notes about IU players all day, and have some nasty chants planned. They also have some newspapers ready.
Related stories on Indiana basketball
- HOW TO WATCH INDIANA-ILLINOIS: Indiana basketball (11-6, 2-4) battles the Illinois Fighting Illini (13-5, 4-3) on Thursday at 8:30 p.m. ET at the State Farm Center in Champaign, Ill. Here's how to watch, with game time and TV information, three leading storylines, the latest on the point spread, the coaching matchup, series history and more. CLICK HERE
- INDIANA LOOKING FOR FIRST BIG TEN ROAD WIN: Indiana basketball hasn't won a game away from Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall since Nov. 20. The Hoosiers are 0-3 in Big Ten road games and play at Illinois, winners of four in a row, on Thursday. CLICK HERE
- WOODSON RADIO SHOW: Coach Mike Woodson appeared on his weekly radio show "Inside Indiana Basketball" alongside play-by-play announcer Don Fischer on Tuesday night to recap Indiana's win over Wisconsin, discuss coaching philosophies and preview the upcoming Illinois game. CLICK HERE
- UNDERWOOD PREVIEWS INDIANA: Before Illinois' home game against Indiana on Thursday, coach Brad Underwood met with the media to discuss the importance of this game, guarding Trayce Jackson-Davis, his team's four-game win streak and more. CLICK HERE
- COLUMN – MORE SHOTS FOR MILLER KOPP: When asked about getting more shots for Miller Kopp, Indiana coach Mike Woodson didn't consider it a high priority. But with two starters out, Kopp needs to have a bigger role in the offense. He played 26 minutes Saturday before taking his first shot, and that just can't happen for Indiana to be at its best offensively. CLICK HERE
