Illinois 64, Indiana 54: Tracy Abrams scored 17 of his season-high 25 points in the second half as the Illini pulled away late to down the Hoosiers in a first-round Big Ten tournament game in Indianapolis.
Rayvonte Rice chipped in with 13 points for No. 9 seed Illinois (19-13), which has won five of its last six and will meet top-seeded Michigan in Friday's quarterfinals. Kendrick Nunn poured in 10 points as the Illini forced 16 turnovers and went 18-of-22 from the foul line.
Yogi Ferrell shot 3-of-13 from the field, including 2-of-9 beyond the arc, to finish with 14 points for eighth-seeded Indiana (17-15), which lost its third straight. Will Sheehey had 11 of his 13 points in the first half while Troy Williams added 11 as the Hoosiers posted their third-worst shooting performance of the season (35.3 percent).
Indiana shot 2-of-13 inside the arc and committed nine turnovers in the first half, but managed to overcome an early nine-point deficit with 6-of-10 shooting from the 3-point line to trail by only two at intermission. The Hoosiers came out of the break with a 10-3 spurt before Illinois answered with a 14-2 run to take a 47-40 advantage on Jon Ekey’s 3-pointer with 8:42 remaining.
The Hoosiers rallied within one on two occasions down the stretch, but Abrams’ 3-pointer with 2:06 to go and a pair of free throws 47 seconds later stretched the Illini’s margin to 58-52. Nunn hit two foul shots and Abrams closed it out with four more in the last 25 seconds as Indiana could only manage a dunk from Noah Vonleh over the final 3:13.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Abrams’ previous high-point total against a Big Ten opponent was a 22-point effort against Purdue on Feb. 15, 2012. … Illinois improved to 6-2 against Indiana in the Big Ten tournament. … The Illini recorded eight steals Thursday and are averaging nine over the last six contests.
Illinois | Indiana | |
Tracy Abrams 25 | Scoring | Kevin Ferrell 14 |
Tracy Abrams 2 | Assists | Will Sheehey 5 |
Tracy Abrams 7 | Rebounds | Jeremy Hollowell 6 |
Tracy Abrams 7 | Free Throws Made | Kevin Ferrell 6 |
Tracy Abrams 2 | Steals | Kevin Ferrell 1 |
Nnanna Egwu 5 | Blocks | Noah Vonleh 2 |