Defense puts squeeze on Illini

By halftime Saturday, the Hoosiers had managed to grab a 46-35 lead over No. 9 Illinois. Three-point shooting had staked IU to that 11-point lead, but the Hoosiers knew defense would be the key to maintaining that margin.\n"We came in the locker room at halftime and told each other defense is what's going to win it for us," Jarrad Odle said. "If you come out and play defense, you don't have to rely on your offense. Once we kept doing that, we knew we were getting control of the game."\nThe offense was there if needed, but IU shut down the Illini early in the second half while the Hoosiers set records on the offensive end. During the first 11 minutes of the second half, IU out-scored Illinois 26-6 and were on their way to an 88-57 win.\nThe loss was the worst for the Illini since an 89-55 loss at Ohio State on Jan. 19, 1991.\nAs much as the school-record 17 three-pointers put Illinois in a hole, Illinois coach Bill Self pointed to the Hoosier defense for slowing down any Illini comeback.\n"I thought IU's defense, to be honest with you, is pretty good. I thought in the second half they did a nice job," Self said. "I think we contributed to them playing good defense by not playing very smart offensively."\nWhile the Hoosiers (13-6, 6-1) hit six three-pointers in the first 11 minutes of the second half, the Illini struggled on nearly every offensive possession. In the second half Illinois hit only 9-of-30 field goals. The Illini did not have a three-point field goal until the final minutes of the game.\nIllinois (15-5, 4-3) mixed 2-3 and 3-2 zones in with mostly man-to-man defense in hopes of slowing the Hoosiers, but IU just kept guarding the Illini. "We knew they would come back in the second half and try to establish themselves inside," Davis said. "I just told our big guys to really guard them and defend them hard, don't give them any open looks, don't foul them and make them make baskets over them."\nThe 57 points were a season low for Illinois, who was averaging 78 points per game for the season. All-American guard Frank Williams was held to just 11 points, six below his season average. Also, all of Williams' points came in the first half.\nEven though Williams is the best player on the team, Self said the Illini tends to do better when other people are taking shots. Williams took a game-high 13 shots from the field, hitting just four of them. No other Illinois player took more than eight shots.\n"We're not at our best whenever Frank's taking most of the shots," Self said. "Whenever Frank takes the majority of the shots, our team doesn't do as well. I think their defense had a lot to do with it."\nDavis, who has always stressed defense first, didn't have anything new for Illinois.\n"Defensively, our motto is to go out and make this the hardest defense the opposing team has ever seen before," Davis said. "We're limited in so many areas, but we do play hard. That's the key for us -- play hard and try to contest every attempt."\nWith the Illini unable to start anything through Williams, the Hoosiers were able to pack their defense inside. Robert Archibald had seven points and Brian Cook had six.\nCory Bradford had just four points, connecting on only one of seven shots from the field. For the game, the Illini shot 36.5 percent from the field compared to the Hoosiers' 51.6 percent.\n"(Jared Jeffries) did an outstanding job, limited Cook's shots and (Coverdale) just had Frank frustrated," Dane Fife said. "We limited Bradford's shots pretty well. That was the key. Coach Davis stressed all week, defense first."\nBradford, who set an NCAA record last season by hitting a three-pointer in 88 consecutive games, was held without one for the fourth time this season. He said the Illini were embarrassed by the loss and their inability to make shots.\n"They just played hard-nosed. We had shots and we just didn't make them," Bradford said. "We weren't aggressive as far as putting the ball in the hole."\nThe 17 three-pointers Saturday gave the Hoosiers enough offense to run out to a big lead and the defense was strong enough to protect the margin. IU might not need as much offense in the future, but it will need the same tough defense.\n"That's what is going to win us games and a Big Ten championship," Tom Coverdale said. "If we can play the kind of defense we did today, we think we have just as good of a shot as anyone else"