Hoosiers Take Close Contest over Fighting Illini 71-68

Saturday, February 18

Bloomington, Ind.

Noon

Indiana University

19-8,10-6Big Ten

Illinois

17-9,8-7Big Ten

Illinois

Indiana

Hoosiers Take Close Contest over Fighting Illini 71-68

2/18/2023 2:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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By Pete DiPrimio
IUHoosiers.com

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Crunch-time arrived and Jalen Hood-Schifino took a deep breath at the free-throw line. Victory and defeat were within Indiana's reach Saturday afternoon at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, and pressure was everywhere you looked.

The nationally televised moment wasn't too big for Hood-Schifino. Not after multiple missed Hoosier chances to take the lead over Illinois, not with 30 seconds left in a 67-67 tie, not with a Big Ten title still within reach and a sold-out crowd ready to roar.

Hood-Schifino hit the free throws, just as he'd hit the tying jumper seconds before, shrugging off 5-for-17 shooting struggles and five turnovers, including a disastrous late-game pass off a timeout that led to an Illini dunk and a coach Mike Woodson rump chewing, as easily as one might dust off a crumb.

"He's a gamer," forward Trayce Jackson-Davis said. "He works hard. He has ultimate confidence. It's next-play mentality, always."

Twenty seconds later, Illinois guard Jayden Epps couldn't match Hood-Schifino's free-throw success, hitting just one of two.

Jackson-Davis capped it off with a press-beating dunk and No. 14/15 IU (19-8 overall, 10-6 in the Big Ten) had a 71-68 victory that secured its third-place Big Ten status.

"We're hungry," Woodson said. "This was a separation game even though we've got a long way to go. We made the plays coming down the stretch we needed to make."

Added Jackson-Davis: "We found a way down the stretch to get it done. Getting stops was big for us."

Start with Hood-Schifino, a freshman forced into a lead point guard role because of senior Xavier Johnson's broken foot, and sometimes playing like it -- until the game is on the line.

Hood-Schifino took what Woodson called a "ridiculous number" of shots, badly messed up an out-of-timeout play, made multiple mistakes and wasn't rattled.

He never is.

In the final 72 seconds, Hood-Schifino hit a jumper off a pick-and-roll that he basically ran for himself, hit those free throws and helped beat Illinois' final desperate press. He finished with 13 points, seven rebounds and three assists.

"At the end," Woodson said, "he makes the plays down the stretch that count. That's what I look at. It's what happens at the end of the game. He made every right play."

Playing any position as a freshman is difficult. Doing it as a point guard, which means running the offense and taking the lead on defense, is especially challenging.

Hood-Schifino handles it.

"He's a freshman and freshmen make mistakes," Woodson said. "You won't shoot it well all the time. I look at his process. When you lose your starting point guard and turn it over to a freshman to run your club, that's huge.

"Make no mistake, he's put us in this position with Trayce and the others."

Woodson's understanding has limits. Hood-Schifino's final turnover reach it.

"It wasn't pretty what I said to him," Woodson said. "I was screaming at him. Then, he took it upon himself to run a pick-and-roll and make a shot. Go figure."

Jackson-Davis sees this every day.

"He's a freshman and sometimes he'll struggle. When that happens, I take it upon myself to tell him to keep going.

"He hit a huge shot. That shows how high a focus he has."

Jackson-Davis passed Woodson for fifth on IU's career scoring list. Woodson had 2,061. Jackson-Davis's 26 points on Saturday gave him 2,081 for his career.

"It's an accomplishment," Jackson-Davis said. "I'll look at it more at the end of the year."

Only A.J. Guyton (2,100), Don Schlundt (2,192), Steve Alford (2,438) and Calbert Cheaney (2,613) are ahead of him.

"As a player, I was never about accolades, but scoring was something I was blessed to be able to do," Woodson said. "The beauty of it is we both didn't do it with three-pointers. Trayce doesn't shoot them and I didn't have it.

"I couldn't be prouder of a young man. For him to pass me is special. Just the body of work he's put in, but he can't stop there. It's just points. We're still staring at Big Ten and national titles. That's what I'm trying to get him to."

Jackson-Davis added 12 rebounds and five blocks in 37 minutes. He has played at least 33 minutes in 14 straight games, six times at 39 minutes, twice at 40.

With the postseason looming, Woodson said, "I've got to scale him back a little back."

Miller Kopp bounced back from a poor-shooting game at Northwestern with 12 points on 4-for-5 accuracy from three-point range. Race Thompson had 10 points and six rebounds.

Illinois (17-9, 8-7) was without its best player, guard Terrence Shannon, sidelined by a concussion, yet still pushed IU to the brink of defeat in a game that featured 10 ties and four lead changes. The Illini led for 26 minutes to IU's seven.

"They were fighting and clawing," Jackson-Davis said. "They showed a lot of heart."

Added Woodson: "They were trying to move up (in the Big Ten standings), and played that way."

A physical first four minutes produced a 7-7 tie. Sparked by Jackson-Davis, IU twice pushed ahead by five. Illinois used five three-pointers to rally for a 27-23 lead, then shot ahead 34-26.

Guard Tamar Bates got two free throws from an Illinois technical foul. Thompson scored. Kopp hit a three-pointer. The 7-0 run cut the lead to one. Illinois reached halftime with a 38-35 lead.

Jackson-Davis led with 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting. The Illini countered with 6-for-12 three-point shooting. Matthew Mayer had four of them for 16 points.

Woodson wasn't happy.

"It got heated in the locker room," Woodson said. "Then we came out in the second half and they jumped on us."

Illinois surged to a 46-37 lead in the first four minutes of the second half. Woodson called a timeout. Jackson-Davis responded with a basket. The Illini shot their second airball of the half.

Kopp hit a three-pointer, but IU gives up a layup seconds later. Still, a Jackson-Davis layup pulled the Hoosiers within 50-44 with 10:48 left.

Jackson-Davis scored off a rebound, then completed a three-point play via a Kopp assist. Hood-Schifino scored. IU trailed 54-51 with 7:55 left.

Hood-Schifino hit a three-pointer following a furious loose ball scramble. The Hoosiers forced a turnover, then converted on a Jackson-Davis basket for a 56-56 tie. A Kopp three-pointer tied it again at 59-59 with five minutes left.

Layups from Jackson-Davis and Thompson tied it at 61-61 and 63-63, but both missed free throws that would have given IU the lead.

Thompson tied it at 65-65. Hood-Schifino tied it at 67-67, then made a pair of free throws for a two-point Hoosier lead with 30 seconds left.

Epps countered with one free throw. IU beat the press for Jackson-Davis' clinching dunk to sweep both games against the Illini and win for the ninth time in 11 games. Next up is a Tuesday trip to Michigan State.

"We kept scrapping and scraping, got back in the game and did what we needed to do to win," Woodson said.