No. 1 Illini continue unbeaten streak with IU loss

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- For the four starting IU freshmen, it looked like it was over before it started against top-ranked Illinois.\nThe "baby Hoosiers" needed another 11 minutes and 21 seconds of warm-ups before they settled their nerves, calmed down and were ready to play Sunday afternoon. \nBut in the end, IU needed every minute -- and maybe a few more.\nNo. 1 Illinois jumped out to a 20-3 lead in the first 11 minutes of Sunday's game against IU and never looked back, staying undefeated with a 60-47 win over the Hoosiers in Champaign-Urbana, Ill. \nWith just over eight minutes left in the first half, IU snapped out of its funk to recover from a 20-3 Illinois run to start the game, with a 17-6 run of their own to finish the first 20 minutes only down six, 26-20.\n"It was tough," junior guard Marshall Strickland said of the run. "We didn't come out as sharp as we'd like to, but I think we battled back nicely. We started to settle in and started to play our game a little bit, play our rhythm."\nThe second half started no different than the first. Illinois jumped out to a 17-point lead with a 17-6 run, before IU outplayed the Illini to finish the game. In the last 10 minutes, the Hoosiers outscored Illinois 18-17, behind the leadership of freshman Robert Vaden. \nWith junior guard Bracey Wright sitting out with a sprained left ankle, Vaden and freshman D.J. White picked up the scoring slack with 12 points apiece, leading IU. \nIn place of the injured Wright, freshman James Hardy got the start and finished with six points in 18 minutes.\n"More time makes me feel better out there," Hardy said.\nIn order to combat the versatile and volatile Illini, IU coach Mike Davis went to his bench often and early against IU, playing Sean Kline, Ryan Tapak, Rod Wilmont, Pat Ewing Jr. and Donald Perry.\nDespite the wide rotation used Davis, four Illini scored in double digits, led by junior James Augustine with 16 points -- 10 of those points came in the first 5 minutes of each half. Guards Luther Head and Dee Brown had 13 and 12 points respectively, and forward Roger Powell added 10. \nBut the Illini show was conducted by Wright's high school teammate Deron Williams. He orchestrated Illinois' 23rd consecutive win, with 11 assists and only one point. \n"That's a great game," Davis said of William's 11 assist performance. "I think he could be a top-five NBA player if he stays in school another year. He controls the tempo of the game; you're not going to take the ball away from him. He's an outstanding player. I think if you look at the point guards across the country, he's got to be in the top two in the country."\nWilliams' IU counterpart, Strickland ended with zero assists and seven points, but was relieved of his point duties for some time by Perry, who dished out two assists. \nBeing the only upperclassman among freshmen, Strickland had his hands full with more than just running the offense.\n"Things don't run as smoothly as you'd like them," he said of playing with four freshmen. "Guys don't really get to their spots. There's always that extra second for them to think about what we're about to do. Without our upperclassmen on the floor, it's an adjustment." \nWith 35 of the Hoosiers 47 points coming from the four freshmen, Vaden thought his classmates handled the pressure under the circumstances. \n"I think we dealt with it pretty well," Vaden said. "We got a little rattled at first. As the game went further and further we got used to it."\nIn front of a relentless Illinois crowd, IU shot 37.8 percent from the field, and only 28.6 percent from the three-point line.\nDespite hearing about the high-powered Illinois offense the Hoosiers' defense stood firm. The 60 points IU held Illinois to was the Illini's lowest of the season. For the game, Illinois shot 43.2 percent from the field and 25 percent behind the arc.\nDavis said people need to realize the amount of youth he is dealing with. By them being exposed to a team like Illinois, he said his guys saw a team they want to be like in a few years. \n"It seems like no one understands this is a young basketball team," Davis said. "The expectations at Indiana should always be high -- always be high - but sometimes should be realistic. (Vaden's) a freshman, D.J White's a freshman, A.J. Ratliff is a freshman. Patrick Ewing is a sophomore. We have two big-time players (redshirts Marco Killingsworth and Lewis Monroe) sitting out. These guys have a chance to be a great, great, great basketball team. The key is they get a chance to grow together."\n-- Contact Staff Writer Josh Weinfuss at jweinfus@indiana.edu.