Trayce Jackson-Davis scored a game-high 35 points as Indiana owned a double-figure lead for nearly the last 30 minutes of an 80-65 Big Ten Conference win over Illinois on Thursday night in Champaign, Ill.
Jackson-Davis was 15 of 19 from the field and added nine rebounds, five assists and three blocks in helping the Hoosiers (12-6, 3-4 Big Ten) earn their second straight win. Indiana made 61.8 percent of its field goal attempts and controlled the boards 39-27.
Jordan Geronimo added 13 points, all in the first half, while Trey Galloway contributed 11 and Jalen Hood-Schifino chipped in 10 points. The Hoosiers outscored the Fighting Illini 54-32 in the paint.
Terrance Shannon scored 26 points for Illinois (13-6, 4-4), which had a four-game winning streak ended
emphatically. RJ Melendez added 10 but the Illini were able to make only 38.7 percent of their field goal attempts.
Illinois trailed by 21 before ripping off nine straight points to pull within 66-54 at the 7:48 mark when Shannon drilled a 3-pointer. With the crowd roaring at full throat, Galloway applied dual silencers with a runner off the glass and then a transition layup for a 70-54 cushion with 6:53 left.
In addition to their shooting woes from the field, the Illini converted just 9 of 23 free throws.
The first half, and perhaps the game, may have changed when Indiana coach Mike Woodson burned a timeout less than two minutes in after Shannon breezed to the bucket for a layup that made it 4-0 Illinois.
The Hoosiers responded by rattling off the next 12 points and never trailing again. Indiana used a simple formula most of the half – pound the ball inside to Jackson-Davis and Geronimo, then shut down the Illini with physical defense.
Indiana owned a double-digit lead for the last 9:28 of the half, expanding it as high as 19 on two occasions before settling for a 43-33 advantage at the break. Jackson-Davis and Geronimo each went 6 for 6 from the field in the half and tallied 13 points.
–Field Level Media