Halftime: IU 41, Illinois 29

After both teams started slow, it was the IU men's basketball team who broke away late in the first half, taking a 41-29 lead into the locker room against Illinois in Champaign, Ill. at the other Assembly Hall.

Senior forward Christian Watford hit a 3-pointer just three seconds into the game, but from there, the Hoosiers went on a bit of a cold streak, as D.J. Richardson and Brandon Paul hit back-to-back 3-pointers of their own, sandwiched by a turnover from senior guard Jordan Hulls.

Watford drove down the court on the next possession to pull IU within one.

For the next several minutes, both teams would continue to struggle from the floor as the lead went back and forth, neither team leading by more than three points.

Watford tried to spark the Hoosiers again with another 3-pointer to give his team a 16-13 lead with 9:26 left, and Hulls followed suit, but Paul again did his best to keep the Fighting Illini right in the thick of things with another one from beyond the arc.

But at 19-18, IU finally broke things open. Sophomore forward Cody Zeller scored his first points of the game with two free throws at the charity stripe with 6:48 left in the half to begin an 18-5 run.

Hulls and junior guard Victor Oladipo would each hit 3-pointers of their own in the 4:36 stretch as the Illinois shooting woes continued.

The Fighting Illini scored six points in the final 1:45 to inch just a few points closer, but they ended the half shooting just 10-of-29 from the field.

IU, on the other hand, shot 56 percent from the floor and 62.5 percent from beyond the arc, led by junior forward Will Sheehey with 10 points, the only player in double digits at the half.

-Nathan Brown