At the bell: Indiana 80, Illinois 65 — inside the auditorium

Quick thoughts on the 80-65 win at Illinois:

how did that happen

Indiana trailed 4-0 early, prompting Mike Woodson to call an early timeout. The Hoosiers responded by scoring the next 12 points to build an eight-point lead at 14:38. He hit the double figures lead for the first time at 18-7 on a layup by Jordan Geronimo and extended it to 14 at 26-12 on Jalen Hood-Chevino with an 8:15 mark. The Hoosiers continued to build a 19-point lead in the first 20 minutes, but Illinois narrowed the deficit to 10 at the end of the first half. However, it was a great 20 minutes for the Hoosiers as Trace Jackson Davis and Geronimo each scored 13 points and Hood Scheveno 10 in 20 minutes of the first half.

By 14:51 of the second half, Indiana had pushed the lead to 18 on a bucket run from Jackson Davis. The Hoosiers extended the lead to 21 on a Miller Kopp 3-pointer with 12:19 to play, but Coleman Hawkins answered just 11 seconds later with a 3-pointer of his own to make it 62-44 in less than 12 media time. Indiana’s lead returned to the 21st after Bucket Jackson-Davis made it 66-45 with 10:12 to play. Indiana turned it over three times in less than two minutes and the Illini got it by 15 minutes at 66-51 with 8:27 to play. Terrence Shannon’s three-pointer with 7:48 made it to play 66-54 Indiana. The 9-0 Hoosiers stopped an Illini surge with a bucket from Trey Galloway with 7:17 remaining. After Shannon’s missed jump shot, Galloway scored on the run on their next possession to push IU’s lead to 16 with 6:36 to play. Indiana has never been seriously challenged. The win, Indiana’s second on the road this season, improved the Hoosiers to 12-6 overall and 3-4 in Big Ten play.

Outstanding performance

Jackson-Davis was dominant, finishing with 35 points on 15-for-19 shooting. The American striker added nine rebounds, five assists and three shots in 35 minutes.

Notable stats

It wasn’t as strong as the Wisconsin game, but Indiana was strong defensively in Thursday’s win. The Hoosiers held the Illini to just 0.95 points per possession and only 38.7 percent shooting from the field.

Final IU individual statistics

The ultimate no-nonsense stats

Show game assembly postgame recall

(Image credit: IU Athletics)

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