Indiana Bounces Illinois, EIU Wins on Senior Night

Print

Published on February 26 2016 9:12 am
Last Updated on February 26 2016 9:12 am

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) -- For 20-plus minutes Thursday night, No. 18 Indiana was in a tough game at Illinois.

The Illini took a 28-27 lead into halftime, and the crowd was enjoying a chance to make some noise and direct it at the Hoosiers.

Then the Big Ten leaders turned things over to Yogi Ferrell.

The senior guard had 27 points, 19 in the second half, to lead the Hoosiers past the Illini 74-47 in a tight game that turned into a blowout.

Indiana outscored Illinois 47-19 in the final 20 minutes.

''We had to create our own energy so I was out here just talking to those guys all the time - whether it was defense or offense, just not letting those guys hang their heads, and go on to the next play,'' Ferrell said.

Trying to dissect his team's sixth loss in eight games, Illini coach John Groce kept it simple: Ferrell gave the Hoosiers ''their edge.''

''I just thought Yogi Ferrell took the game over,'' Groce said. ''And not just from a scoring perspective. You stand courtside and you hear his leadership. ... He's clapping his hands. He's talking to the bench. He's into the game.''

Nick Zeisloft added 14 points for Indiana (23-6, 13-3), and Thomas Bryant had 14 points and eight rebounds. Ferrell's 19 points in the second half matched the entire output for Illinois (12-16, 4-11).

Jalen Coleman-Lands led the Illini with 21 points.'

Indiana held Illinois' top two scorers, Malcolm Hill and Kendrick Nunn, to a combined 13 points. Hill entered averaging 18.6 per game, and Nunn 16.4.

The Hoosiers blew out Illinois with a barrage of second-half 3-pointers, going 10 for 17 from behind the arc over the final 20 minutes. They hit three in the first half.

Ferrell finished 11 of 18 from the field, including 5 for 10 from 3-point range.

One particular sequence illustrated what Ferrell means to the Hoosiers at both ends of the court. With just under 10 minutes left and the Illini trying to claw their way back into it, Nunn held the ball just outside the 3-point line as Illinois started to set up its offense.

But before Nunn could even glance at a teammate, Ferrell scooted by him, swiped the ball from a stunned Nunn and broke to the other end of the court. Ferrell's easy layup put the Hoosiers up 50-37.

Just 2 minutes later, Ferrell sank a 3 that put Indiana ahead 56-37 and silenced the arena - except for the red-clad fans scattered here and there, and his own bench, which was whooping it up.

''He plays with a lot of confidence and he brings a lot of confidence to his teammates,'' Indiana coach Tom Crean said. ''At the same time, there's very few nights that he doesn't draw the toughest assignment from the other team.''

Hill is Illinois' best weapon, and Indiana took him all but out of the game. By halftime he'd taken a total of two shots, missing both.

When he tried to force himself into it in the second half, the Hoosiers shut him down.

With the Illini down by six with just under 17 minutes left, Hill drove toward the basket but found two Hoosiers between himself and the rim when he got there. The junior was forced to kick the ball out to a teammate, who missed his shot, and Illinois came away with nothing.

 

EIU Wins On Senior Night

CHARLESTON, Ill. – Eastern Illinois had five players score in double figures led by senior Trae Anderson with 22 as the Panthers ended their regular season with a 85-74 win over Murray State on Thursday night in Lantz Arena.
 
EIU improved to 13-16 overall, 9-7 in the OVC.  The Panthers will play as either the six or seven seed in next week’s Ohio Valley Conference Tournament opening Wednesday night in Nashville.  Murray State fell to 15-13 overall, 9-6 in the OVC.  MSU will close out the regular season Saturday hosting UT Martin.
 
EIU honored seniors Anderson, Luke Norman and Luke Piotrowski prior to the game as EIU posted winning records in the OVC in back-to-back seasons for the first time since the 1999-2000 and 2000-01 seasons.
 
While EIU had balanced scoring all night DeMarcus Croaker was a one man show for the Racers to open the game.  Croaker scored Murray State’s first 17 points opening the game 6-of-7 from the floor.  He would end the night with 26 points.
 
Croaker’s 17th point gave MSU a 17-16 lead with 11:04 to play in the first half.  EIU went on an 11-2 run to take a 27-19 lead.  Demetrius McReynolds had the final shot in the run as he finished with 16 points and nine rebounds, just missing his fifth double-double this season.
 
A 3-pointer by Cornell Johnston pushed the lead to nine with 4:33 to play and EIU led 44-32 at the half on a jumper by Aboubacar Diallo as time expired.
 
In the second half EIU was able to hold off the Racers with Murray State’s closest run coming with 9:58 to play on a pair of Bryce Jones free throws that ended a 6-0 MSU run.  MSU cut EIU’s lead to four points at 60-56.  Jones flirted with a triple-double in the game finishing with 14 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.
 
Following Jones free throws, EIU quickly moved the lead back to double figures with buckets by Anderson and Patrick Muldoon.  The Panthers biggest lead of the game was 16 points when Joe Kuligoski knocked down a pair of free throws for EIU giving them a 78-62 lead with 2:52 to play.
 
EIU shot 58 percent on the night with Casey Teson and Muldoon both finishing with 13 points.  Johnston had 11 points and nine assists.
 
Jeffery Moss was the final MSU player in double figures with 12 points.