POSTGAME
Wow. What an intense second half of basketball that one was. It seemed as if the Illini might have been on their way to handing IU its first home loss of the season, but somehow, someway, the Hoosiers crawled back into the lead and won 65-61.
It's hard to collect my thoughts with all the action, but here are some thoughts in no particular order:
*Rich McBride did not score in the second half after dropping 13 in the first. He had a wide open 3-point shot attempt with the Illini trailing 62-61 with around 30 seconds left in the game and missed. Credit the Hoosiers for playing tough defense on him all half.
*I don't have the final play-by-play stat sheet yet, but I'd venture to say over five times in the second half IU would mount a small run and go up by four points. But each time the Hoosiers did that, Illinois came right down and hit a big shot to stop the momentum.
*Lance Stemler is struuugling. He looked out of place in the first half and turned the ball over twice. He had a few good 3-point looks in the second half that could have really been daggers, but he missed all three of them. He leads the team in free throw percentage at 81 percent, but missed the front end of a one-and-one in the decisive moments of the game. He seems to be lacking confidence out on the court at this juncture of the season.
OK, that's all for me. IU moves to 17-6 on the season with the win. What did everyone out there think of the game? Let us know in the comments.
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HALFTIME:
Well, the Illini most certainly came to play this afternoon. They lead at the half 33-31. It seemed that every time IU got a bit of a lead, Illinois came storming back on its next possession.
Rich McBride has been punishing the Hoosiers all half. He has 13 at the break and has hit three 3-point buckets.
Uncharacteristically, IU is driving to the bucket a lot; I mean A LOT this game. It hasn't quite worked out every time in its favor though. Also uncharacteristically, IU has only attempted four 3-pointers. They've knocked down three of them. Illinois is doing a pretty good job on D.J. White. He has a modest five points at the half, on 2-of-6 shooting.
These Hoosiers sure seem to bring out the best in the Illinois. It should be a tight one in the second half. There were a few I-L-L D-U-I chants during the first half (in reference to Rich McBride's DUI before the season) and a bunch of "Er-ic Gor-don" chants as well.
See you after the game.
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Seems like it's been awhile since the Hoosiers have played within the confines of their own Assembly Hall, no? Well, yes, it has been. A week and a half ago, IU toppled mighty Wisconsin 71-66.
We all know the drama surrounding this afternoon tilt today. Eric Gordon, anyone? If you're watching at home, the game is on at 1 p.m. EST on CBS. The Illini are only averaging 57.4 points on the road in the Big Ten so far this season, so it might take some mighty strong defense on their part to keep IU under wraps. We shall see.
Your probable starters are:
IU
D.J. White Lance Stemler Roderick Wilmont Armon Bassett Earl Calloway
Illinois
Warren Carter Brian Randle Shaun Pruitt Trent Meacham Rich McBride
See you at half.
