Threes reign in Hoosier victory

A box score would more than do justice to Saturday's battle between IU and Illinois. \nIU splattered the board with mind-boggling numbers: Like a school- and Big Ten-record 17 three-pointers. There were 46 first-half points and 42 more in the second half. There were five players in double figures. And there were three players with three or more three-pointers. \nBut, in reality, all you need to sum up IU's 88-57 pounding of the No. 9 Illini in front of 17,456 wound-up fans in Assembly Hall is vocal evidence from the Illini themselves. \nLucas Johnson: "We weren't even in the same league as them today."\nDamir Krupalija: "It just kept raining and raining. It was a long, rainy day for us."\nCory Bradford: "They were making wide open shots, tough shots. They were hitting on all cylinders."\nTo say the least. \nIU hit nine three-pointers in the first half, eight more in the second half and used a stifling defense to stretch an 11-point halftime lead to 25 just seven minutes into the half and 35 some 10 minutes later.\nThe victory, combined with Ohio State's 89-71 loss at Minnesota, moved the Hoosiers (13-6, 6-1 Big Ten) into a first-place tie with the Buckeyes and slid IU two games ahead of defending conference champion Illinois (15-5, 4-3). \nDane Fife's 20 points lead the way for IU. Tom Coverdale scored 16, Kyle Hornsby 15, Jared Jeffries 13 and A.J. Moye 11. \nFrank Williams led Illinois with 11 but did not score in the second half and was just four of 13 from the field. The reigning Big Ten Player of the Year is now 11 of 40 from the field in the last three games against IU. \n"Today was our day," IU coach Mike Davis said. "The ball went in today. Sometimes it goes in; sometimes it doesn't. We were fortunate to have our guards step up."\nFife hit six of seven three-pointers and grabbed five rebounds. All of Hornsby's 15 came on three-pointers, and he added five rebounds and five assists. Coverdale hit four of seven three-pointers and collected five assists. \nAll told, IU's three-guard starting lineup hit 15 of 22 three-pointers, piled up 51 points, tallied 13 assists and yanked down 13 rebounds. \nIllinois' backcourt shot five of 21 from the floor and missed all four of its three-pointers. In fact, while IU bombed away from the arc, Illinois missed its first 10 three-pointers before finishing the game with back-to-back, long-range buckets. \nBut by then it was far, far too late. \nIU held Illinois to eight second-half points over the first 13 minutes of the half, using a 31-8 run to extend an 11-point halftime lead to 77-43. \nDuring that span, the Hoosiers drained seven three-pointers, solving the Illini's man-to-man defense, its zone defense and its full-court press. Back-to-back-to-back threes from Fife, Jeffries and Hornsby gave IU an 18-point lead just four minutes into the second half. \nThen Jeffries, who ended his streak of four consecutive games with at least 20 points, put the Illini away. The sophomore forward followed up a missed layup by Hornsby with a one-handed jam, then stole the ball on Illinois' next possession, raced to the bucket and twisted for a reverse slam. \nHornsby capped the spurt with a three-point shot, pushing the lead to 64-39 and extinguishing the Illini chance at a comeback. \n"I thought it sucked, but they also made shots," Illinois coach Bill Self said of his team's perimeter defense. "For whatever reason, we allowed them to operate in their comfort zone early, and they made shots, and the next thing you know their confidence is sky high. They made some hard shots. They were awesome."\nSelf said his game plan wasn't to double-team Jeffries, but it sure appeared that way. IU's three-guard system worked to near perfection, feeding off a defense drawn toward Jeffries. \nIU's nine first-half three-pointers were more than they had in 14 different games this season. The Hoosiers finished 17 of 27 (63 percent) from the arc. They hit 15 two-point buckets in 35 tries (42.8 percent).\nOver the first 15 minutes of the second half, IU hit eight three-pointers and five two point shots. \n"At a certain point it was like 'Keep passing the ball to Coverdale, Hornsby and Fife' because the way they were hitting, I figured they'd all go for 30 (points)," Jeffries said.\nJeffries, the Big Ten's leading scorer, scored his final points -- the reverse dunk -- at the 13:40 mark, but it didn't matter. Five of IU's next seven buckets were three-pointers, and Fife's sixth three of the game put the finishing touches on the blowout. The shot bounced from the back of the rim to the front and rolled in, giving the Hoosiers the league and school record for three-pointers in a game. IU has hit 10 or more thee-pointers in six games this season. \n"This is our home floor, and we better be able to hit on these rims or we're in trouble," Fife said. "Every shot it seemed we put up it seemed was going in. We were unconscious."\nThe result was a stunned Illini bunch handed its worst loss since a 36-point loss at Temple in 1991. The 31-point spread was the Illini's biggest margin of defeat to IU since a 109-74 loss during the 1990-1991 season. IU's biggest lead Saturday was 35 points, but it took the Hoosiers a while to get there. \nThe Illini used balance to stick with IU over the first 13 minutes, but IU either hit a three-pointer or had a chance at a three-point play on every score over the game's first nine minutes. \nThe decisive run began at the nine-minute mark, when Illinois' Damir Krupalija was whistled for a moving screen before Cory Bradford hit a three-pointer. The bucket, which was waved off because of the foul, would have tied the game. \nInstead, Fife hit two free throws, and IU closed the first half with three more three-point shots and an 18-10 run to take a 46-35 halftime lead. \nThe 46 points was the second-most the Hoosiers have scored in the first half this season. They poured in 48 against Michigan State, when they hit 10 first-half threes. \nDespite the offensive explosion, many of the Hoosiers credited the blowout win to the defense, which held the Illini to 30 percent, helped out-rebound the Illini 42-34 and forced nine turnovers in the second half.\n"That's the best we've played all year," Coverdale said. "It all started with our defense. We got out on the break well and got some easy threes, which really got us going in the first half."\nThe Hoosiers must travel to Champaign to play the Illini in February and said they still have much respect for Self and company. Their approach after the victory was one of business as usual. They're in the hunt for their own respect and likely took care of that Saturday. \n"We're getting no respect when it comes to polls," senior forward Jarrad Odle said. "We think we're a good team. (Today) is a big step for us, and it's really going to show people that we're on the map and we're doing some things this year"