Preview: Indiana at Illinois

Send a link to a friend  Share

[February 25, 2016]  Indiana enjoyed the best 3-point shooting game in school history against Illinois earlier this season and the No. 15 Hoosiers look to knock down some more from behind the arc when they face the Fighting Illini in Thursday's Big Ten contest. Indiana made a school-record 19 3-pointers in the 103-69 rout on Jan. 19 and senior point guard Yogi Ferrell led the assault by making five.

Indiana is batting Iowa and Maryland for the Big Ten regular-season title and committed a season-low four turnovers during Saturday's impressive 77-73 home win over Purdue. The Hoosiers made 12 3-pointers against the Boilermakers to mark the 21st time this season they have made at least nine in a game. Illinois has lost five of its last seven games and sits in 12th place in the 14-team Big Ten. The Fighting Illini appear on track to miss the NCAA tournament for the third straight season and may need a strong finish to get coach John Groce another year at the helm.

TV: 9 p.m. ET, ESPN

ABOUT INDIANA (22-6, 12-3 Big Ten): Junior forward Troy Williams averaged 18.5 points and shot 75 percent from the field last week to share Big Ten Player of the Week honors and he also became the 49th player in school history to reach 1,000 career points. "Troy was incredibly committed on the defensive end this week," Hoosiers coach Tom Crean said at a press conference. "It's amazing what happens to your offense. You try to get these guys to understand all the time, when you focus on the defense and the rebounding, making simple plays with the ball, it's amazing how well you play." Williams, who has 1,008 points, is averaging 12.8 points and team-best six rebounds while Ferrell leads the team in scoring (16.9), assists (5.5) and 3-point baskets (59).

ABOUT ILLINOIS (12-15, 4-10): Junior guard Malcolm Hill has been superb for the Illini and leads the squad in scoring (18.6) and assists (3.4) and also averages 6.7 rebounds. Hill is the only Illinois player to start every game and he has scored 30 or more points on three occasions while scoring in single digits just once. Junior guard Kendrick Nunn is averaging 16.4 points and has made 62 3-pointers, three behind freshman guard Jalen Coleman-Lands (9.6 average) for the team lead.

[to top of second column]

TIP-INS

1. Indiana has won the last two meetings after Illinois won eight of the previous 12.

2. Coleman-Lands is averaging just 6.5 points over the past two games after averaging 18.3 points and making 15 3-pointers over the previous three contests.

3. Farrell needs seven assists to surpass former Michigan State G Eric Snow (599 from 1991-95) and move into 10th place in Big Ten history.

PREDICTION: Indiana 88, Illinois 72

[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Back to top