Illinois at Indiana: Post-game notes, numbers and trends

For much of the three-hour marathon between Indiana and Illinois, the Hoosiers appeared to be in control. With 2:40 left in regulation and the game tied at 66, Illinois star Ayo Dosunmu fouled out of the game. But despite several key advantages in IU’s favor down the stretch, the offensive ineptitude reared its ugly head once again, and Illinois pulled out a close overtime win. 

Here are some notes, numbers, and trends from Indiana’s 75-71 loss to the 12th-ranked Illini. 

• Khristian Lander played a career-high 19 minutes and tied a career-high in points with six. Lander has now made eight of 14 three-pointers at home this season.  He had a difficult second half sequence in which his man (Trent Frazier) made two 3-pointers and was fouled on a third.

• Rob Phinisee struggled, finishing with zero points, zero rebounds, zero assists, and five fouls in 13 minutes. Despite the box score, Phinisee led Indiana with a +5 in the plus minus.  It was the first time in more than a year that Phinisee was held scoreless in a game.

• The game was Indiana’s fourth this season that went to overtime. The Hoosiers are now 1-3 in those games. Three of the four overtime games have come against top-20 KenPom teams (FSU, Wisconsin, Illinois). 

• From the six-minute mark through the end of the game, Indiana made just two field goals. They only attempted eight shots during that period. 

• The loss with Indiana’s third straight at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. The last time they lost three in a row or more was in 2018-19, when the Romeo Langford-led Hoosiers lost five in a row at home. 

• Trayce Jackson-Davis put up 19 points and 14 rebounds, numbers in line with his averages on the season. But the star big man shot just 6-18 and had a sky-high usage rate of 35.1 percent. He finished with a 77.5 offensive rating.

• The Illinois victory in Assembly Hall was the team’s first since 2010. The loss puts IU’s home record at 4-4 on the season, 2-4 against Power 5 opponents. 

• Punxsutawney Phil had been kind to IU as they had a six-game win streak on Groundhog Day before Tuesday. 

• Race Thompson carried the load offensively for much of the first half. Thompson, who Jackson-Davis said had a “helluva game,” scored 18 points and grabbed 8 rebounds. Thompson led the team in both offensive (116.7) and defensive (97.6) rating. 

• After one of the better offensive halves of the year in the first period (41 points), Indiana went 8-25 the rest of the way. The game was a classic Big Ten rock fight, as Indiana finished with 0.98 points per possession and Illinois had 1.03.

• Archie Miller said he was impressed with the team’s 10-16 three-point shooting mark against Rutgers. Against the Illini, IU was unable to sustain that momentum, getting up just eight total threes and making four.  Indiana has made 22-of-41 (53.6 percent) 3s in its last three games.

• Indiana made just 22 total field goals in the game, tied for third-least on the season and tied for the least in Big Ten play. The Hoosiers shot 39.1 percent from two-point range against Illinois. 

• It is never a good thing when the officials are one of the main takeaways from a game but that was the case in this one, as the two teams combined to commit 54 fouls. Five total players fouled out, including Lander, Phinisee, and Armaan Franklin.

• Ayo Dosunmu scored 30 points in the first meeting but was held to just 10 points on 2-of-11 shooting on the night.

See also: Keys, highlights, stats |  Miller and Jackson-Davis post-game | Miller expands on Hunter situation

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