Hoosiers top Illini after 2 overtime periods

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The IU men’s basketball team squeaked out a four-point, double-overtime win against Illinois. \nAnd they have Fighting Illini forward Shaun Pruitt to thank. \nPruitt missed three crucial free throws in the waning moments of IU freshman guard Eric Gordon’s return to Champaign and allowed the No. 14 Hoosiers to walk away with the 83-79 victory.\nPruitt missed the first of a one-and-one opportunity with 4.3 seconds left and the game tied 63-63 and allowed the game to continue an extra period.\nWith 2.2 seconds left and the score tied 69-69 in the first overtime, the Hoosiers put Pruitt, a 59.6 percent free-throw shooter, on the line once more. Again, the Illini forward failed to convert, bricking both free-throw shots and extending the game an extra period.\nIn the second overtime, IU sophomore guard Armon Bassett took over. \nBassett scored all nine IU points in the second overtime, including a handful of clutch free throws, to give the Hoosiers close win. \nBassett was able to take over late in the game as the Illini focused most of their defense on Gordon. \nOne of the top recruits in the nation, Gordon had committed to Illinois for more than a year before changing his mind and enrolling at IU.\nThe Orange Krush, Illinois’ student section, screamed at Gordon the whole night – chants like “liar,” “traitor” and “fuck you, Gordon.”\nFor a while, it worked. \nThe Illini held Gordon in check for the first half. The freshman guard did little to quiet a raucous home crowd and scored just one point on an 0-for-4 first-half shooting performance. Gordon even launched an airball in the first half. \nThe Krush chanted “in your head” and “airball,” in addition to loudly booing the guard every time he touched the ball. \n“He probably was pressing a little bit,” Sampson said. \nBut after halftime, Gordon exploded. \nHe started the second frame off with a 3-pointer from the wing and didn’t stop torturing Illinois.\n“In the second half, I thought he played like a man,” Sampson said. \nAt halftime, IU senior forwards D.J. White and Lance Stemler talked to Gordon to try and get him to settle down. \n“The only thing I was worried about was trying to get the win,” Gordon said. “It was a big road win for us.” \nGordon shot just 3-of-13 from the field, but he made 10-of-12 free-throw attempts to finish with 19 points, which was tops for the Hoosiers. But none of Gordon’s points were more important than the 3-pointer he banked in with less than 30 seconds left to tie the score at 63-63. The Hoosiers overcame a 12-point deficit in the second half. \n“In the second half, our defense got better,” Sampson said.\nAll in all, four Hoosiers finished with a double-digit point total – Gordon, Bassett (16), IU senior forward White (16) and IU freshman guard Jordan Crawford (18).\nBut Gordon made mistakes as well. With IU up three and 25 seconds remaining, Gordon turned the ball over with a 10-second violation after he failed to dribble the ball past the half-court line. He responded by forcing a turnover on the next possession by pressuring Illinois guard Demetri McCamey, who botched a handoff to teammate Trent Meacham. \n“It looked a little physical, to be honest,” Illini coach Bruce Weber said after the game.\nWeber lost his second game of the year to enemy coach Kelvin Sampson and his former recruit.\n“We had our chances to win,” Weber said. \nIU and Illinois were pretty evenly-matched from the field – the Hoosiers shot 42.4 percent compared to Illinois’ 42.9 mark – but the Hoosiers biggest advantage from the charity stripe. \nIU shot 75.9 percent (22-of-29) from the free-throw line, while the Illini converted just 47.1 percent (8-of-17).\nThe win keeps the Hoosiers (19-3, 8-1) in a three-way tie in the loss column atop the Big Ten standings. Illinois moved to 2-9 in the Big Ten (10-14 overall).\nIU’s win snapped a 6-game series win streak for the Illini in Champaign.