Second Half Surge Lifts #15 IU at Illinois

Thursday, February 25

Champaign, IL

9:00 PM

Indiana University

23-6, 13-3

Illinois

12-16, 4-11

Indiana

Illinois

2/25/2016 11:13:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Tori Ziege, IUHoosiers.com

By: Tori Ziege, IUHoosiers.com

CHAMPAIGN, Illinois – Indiana knew by the time its starters took to Lou Henson Court that it wouldn't have sophomore guard Robert Johnson on Thursday night.

What it didn't know is that it would spend the bulk of the second half without junior forward Troy Williams, who sat out more than 12 minutes with a bruise to his thigh.

The short-handed No. 18 Hoosiers didn't blink in the absence of two of Indiana's key players, however, scoring as many points in the second frame as Illinois did the entire game for a 74-47 road victory.

The performance was highlighted by senior guard Kevin Yogi Ferrell in his school record 131st career start, who led the way with 27 points on 11 of 18 shooting in his send-off from the State Farm Center.

"Yogi is just on another level tonight," head coach Tom Crean said, "and he's been that way all year. The ball moved and we got established in the paint to start the second half. That's the key. We had two runs in the second half that were 16-2 and 16-5."

Indiana once again clawed back from an early road deficit, down 12-4 at the first media timeout after Illinois went 6 of 8 from the floor on a hot-handed shooting start.
The Illini then missed six straight shots, allowing the Hoosiers back in the game on a 6-0 run despite Indiana making just three of 15 three-point shots in the first period. It headed to the locker room trailing by one.

Ferrell said it gave him flashbacks to some of Indiana's other road losses, at Michigan State and at Penn State, this season. It also reminded him of 2013, the last time Indiana won the Big Ten regular-season crown, when the No. 1-ranked Hoosiers fell to the unranked Illini.

"I'll never forget that, man," Ferrell said. "They stormed the court, broken play, easy lay-up. I'll definitely never forget it."

The senior wouldn't allow history to repeat itself in the chase for a second conference title.

The Hoosiers cleaned up with 10 second-half treys, five by Ferrell and three by senior guard Nick Zeisloft, who capitalized on his starting nod with 14 points from deep.

Freshman center Thomas Bryant also finished with 14 on a perfect 5 of 5 shooting after setting the tempo for Indiana's hegemonic second stanza, scoring the Hoosiers' first seven points out of halftime. Ferrell averaged a point per minute to tally 19 in what he agreed was one of the better Big Ten road halves of his career.

In addition to their red-hot shooting in the second half, the Hoosiers put on a strong defensive showing, holding Illini leading scorer Malcolm Hill scoreless through 32:23 minutes.

Ferrell was his primary defender.
"He impacted both ends of the court," Zeisloft said. "He was the senior leader that we had to have. After the first half we needed to step up and he definitely took the fun of that, and we were rolling behind him after that."

Indiana (23-6, 13-3) made three more three-pointers than Illinois (12-16, 4-11) did shots in the second half, securing its fifth Big Ten road win in the process.

The Hoosiers move to 13-3 in conference play and require just one more win — or a loss by both Iowa and Maryland — to guarantee at least a share of the Big Ten regular-season title.

"The nice thing will be if we keep getting better," Crean said. "That's what really matters. We'll get a little healthier, but I love the resiliency of these guys and they've been that way really since we got home Dec. 3 (after losing to Duke). They've been that way the entire year."