IU Upends No. 8 Illinois, 74-66

1/18/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Nov. 25, 2002

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- In front of a packed house at Assembly Hall Saturday afternoon, No. 17 Indiana topped No. 8 Illinois, 74-66. The victory pushed IU's record to 13-3 overall, 3-1 in Big Ten play and marked its sixth win in the last games against top-10 opponents. The Illini slipped to 12-3 and 2-2 in league action.

Emotions were high as Illinois pushed out to an 11-4 lead. But Indiana settled in and reeled off 10 straight points to take a 14-11 lead, a lead they would hold onto the rest of the game. A big key for Indiana was getting Illinois' Brian Cook into foul trouble. Cook picked up three in the first half.

Nine IU players saw action in the opening stanza and eight of them got into the scoring column as the Hoosiers owned a 36-31 advantage at intermission. Big men Jeff Newton and George Leach paced Indiana's scoring attack with nine and eight points, respectively. Leach also collected seven rebounds.

"After Ohio State, our team understands that we have to be up for every game," Newton said. "The plan was to get their post-players in foul trouble and dominate on the offensive boards."

In the second half, Indiana continued to play tough and extended its lead in the second half. Newton carried the Hoosiers offensively, adding 19 points to finish with career-high 28. IU held its biggest lead at 60-45 with 8:56 showing on the clock. But the Illini wouldn't quit. Illinois cut the lead to six with 1:16 to go and, after an IU turnover, scored again to make it just four at 68-64. Four straight free throws by Hoosier sophomore Donald Perry put the lead back at eight. Newton put the icing on the cake, knocking down two from the charity stripe to end the game.

"Jeff Newton scored 28 points. It was really big for us that Jeff Newton scored 28 points," head coach Mike Davis said. "The point of emphasis the last couple of games was to go inside. We didn't do it against Ohio State. When we get the ball to George and Jeff we want to play inside and out and I thougt both guys played well today."

Indiana won the battle on the glass, out-rebounding the Illini, 47-38, and only turned the ball over five times., the second-least in school history.

Marshall Strickland hit three three-point shots, including a crucial pair back-to-back in the first half, and closed with game with nine points. Leach finished with eight points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Kyle Hornsby had three points to go with his 10 rebounds. A.J. Moye fouled out with nine points and every IU player that saw time on the court scored. Newton also blocked a season-high five shots.

Dee Brown scored a team-high 18 points for Illinois and dished out five assists. Cook fouled out with 15 points and seven rebounds at the 4:59 mark. Nick Smith also reached double-figures with 13.

Freshman Bracey Wright did not play for the second consecutive game. Wright, a starter in the Hoosiers' first 13 games and the team's leading scorer, is nursing a recurring back injury and has been listed as day-to-day.

The Hoosiers will have a chance to avenge their only Big Ten loss on Tuesday, Jan. 21, when they host Ohio State at the Hall. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. and the game will be televised on ESPN.