Hoosiers impress with guts

Sometimes all you need is guts.\nThere was a moment during Tuesday night's 62-60 win over Illinois that I'll remember for a long time. After suffering what looked like a serious ankle injury early in the second half, junior Roderick Wilmont emerged from the Hoosier locker room with 14:24 remaining in the game and was greeted with a standing ovation. Wilmont had absolutely taken over the game until his injury and was dominating on both ends of the floor. Had the injury been more serious, the Hoosiers might have been doomed to their second conference loss. As he emerged from the locker room, looking like Willis Reed in the 1970 NBA Finals, you could see nothing was going to keep him from finishing the game. When he finally re-entered, he immediately made another contribution by hitting a 3-pointer while being fouled. He finished the night with 17 points and nine rebounds.\nWilmont wasn't the only Hoosier fighting through pain Tuesday night as senior Marco Killingsworth battled back spasms for most of the night. Killingsworth only scored three points in the opening half and was visibly frustrated throughout the early part of the game. He toughed it out and provided a steady inside presence in the second half as he finished with 23 points and 12 rebounds. \nDuring the Hoosiers' early struggles, coach Mike Davis searched for an answer as the Illini shot to an 8-0 lead. Davis called on Wilmont and the rest of the bench to cause a spark. In a priceless moment, he turned to Sean Kline early in the first half and told him to go in. The look on Kline's face was exactly like the one on Ollie's face when Coach Dale tells him to enter the sectional final game in "Hoosiers." \nThe Hoosiers moved the ball well near the end of the first half, getting open looks and quality shots despite the lack of production from Killingsworth. The Hoosiers went into the locker room leading 28-24 and, despite a late run by Illinois, they held on to win. \nWhat the Hoosiers did Tuesday night proved you don't have to score a ton of points to win the game. If you do the little things, like play solid defense, rebound and are simply tougher than the other team, you will come out with a victory at the final buzzer. IU ended the game with six more rebounds than the Illini, showing they can, in fact, control the boards. \nIt was a different type of win than the Hoosiers have had this year. We hadn't seen Killingsworth fight through adversity to end up dominating, or watched a bench player, like Wilmont, ignite the home crowd and electrify the atmosphere through gutty play. \nThough they still have a lot to work on, think about this: The Hoosiers held the preseason Big Ten player of the year to five points, they won on national television against the No. 7 team in the country, they are now in sole possession of second place in the conference and have a home date with a struggling Purdue team Saturday. The Hoosiers proved they can rebound from a bad loss -- let's see how they respond after a big win. \nBut if they show this type of determination and heart the rest of the way, the Hoosiers will be nearly impossible to beat.