Indiana University Athletics
Indiana University
Illinois
Hoosiers Fall to Illini, 70-58
2/19/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 19, 2006
Box Score
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The Indiana men's basketball team dropped to 13-10 overall and 5-7 in the Big Ten as it fell, 70-58, to No. 14/13 Illinois on Feb. 19 at Assembly Hall in Champaign, Ill. Senior Marshall Strickland nabbed his 100th career steal, while the Hoosiers boasted two players in double-figure scoring. Senior Marco Killingsworth and junior Roderick Wilmont led the Hoosiers with 15 and 10 points a piece.
The Hoosiers opened the game a pair of three-pointers from sophomore Robert Vaden at the 18:58 mark and junior Earl Calloway a minute later to put IU up 6-5.
Strickland reached the century mark in steals when he forced Illinois' Rich McBride to turn the ball just under three minutes into the game. The Mt. Airy, Md., product is one of only 19 Hoosiers to record 100 steals in a career.
Midway through the first half, freshman Ben Allen snapped an 8-0 Illinois run with a jumper to raise the score to 27-12. After Allen broke the Hoosier dry spell, the two Big Ten foes traded baskets through the 5:49 mark to put the score at 29-16, but the Illini upped their lead to 34-18 with four minutes left in the first half.
At the half, Indiana trailed 38-25. Killingsworth led the Hoosiers in first-half scoring with seven points and two rebounds. Wilmont contributed six points and a pair of boards for IU in the opening half. Sophomore Robert Vaden accounted for two of the Hoosiers' five first-half assists. Indiana shot 33 percent from the field and 15 percent from beyond the arch in the opening stanza.
The Hoosiers pulled within 11 when Strickland nailed a jumper to open the second half to tighten the score to 38-27. Calloway gave IU some much-needed momentum when he stole the ball from McBride and converted the snag into a layup that shrunk Illinois' lead to 41-31 with 16:47 on the clock.
Vaden halted an 8-0 Illinois run when he drained short jumper with 14:40 left in the game to raise the score to 48-33. With 10 minutes remaining in the second half, Indiana pulled within 12 thanks to a jumper by Vaden, which tightened the score to 53-41.
With 55 seconds left on the clock, Strickland drained a three-pointer cut the deficit to 10 at 68-58. Despite the late game push, the Hoosiers could not over come the Ilini, who claimed the 70-58 victory.
For the game, Indiana shot 36 percent from the field and 18 percent from three-point range.The Ilini shot 50 percent from the field, but the Hoosier defense held Illinois to 17.6 percent from behind the arc.
IU returns home on Wednesday, Feb. 22 to face Penn State. Game time is slated for 7 p.m., and can be seen regionally on ESPN Plus and heard on the IU Radio Network.
