David Mirkovic scored 25 points and Keaton Wagler added 18 as No. 8 Illinois blew out Indiana 71-51 on Sunday in Champaign, Ill. The Illini's size held Indiana to its lowest point total of the year, and Illinois committed a season-low two turnovers. Lamar Wilkerson led Indiana with 21 points.
CHAMPAIGN, Ill — The one thing that Indiana's rebuilt roster has has trouble dealing with season was when opponents have overwhelmed them with size. The way this Hoosiers team was constructed on the fly last summer, there's no real answer for it in real time.
It was an issue again on Sunday when the Hoosiers took on No. 8-ranked Illinois at the State Farm Center. The Fighting Illini have the tallest lineup in college basketball, and it showed in their 71-51 over the Hoosiers.
The Hoosiers shot just 6-of-24 from deep and scored their lowest point total of the year. The previous low was 57 during a home loss to Iowa on Jan. 17. It was the worst offensive game for an Indiana team since scoring only 48 points in a loss to Rutgers on Dec. 3, 2022.
Illinois had 15 offensive rebounds and 40 points in the paint. Their long 2-3 zone also caused problems on the defensive end. Indiana is now 17-9 on the season, and 8-7 in the Big Ten with five league games remaining.
"There's a reason why they're one of the best teams in the country, and you saw that today,'' Indiana coach Darian DeVries said. "They've created habits of guys going and going with force (for offensive rebounds). "We knew it was the number one thing we had to do to come in here and win."
Illinois, which is also No. 1 in the country in offensive efficiency, proved it again. They only had two turnovers the entire game.
Indiana struggled throughout offensively. The two teams traded punches for the first 10 minutes of the game, but then Illinois went on a 13-2 run to start to pull away. They led by as many as nine points in the first half, and took a 38-31 lead to the locker room. Illinois guard David Mirkovic had 15 first-half points and the Illini got seven offensive rebounds. Twenty of their 38 points came at the rim.
Illinois scored the first five points of the second half to get their lead into double digits for the first time, and kept adding to it. They went on an 11-0 run and had a 54-36 lead with 12:33 to go.
Indiana never got back to within single digits, scoring just 20 points in the second half.
Boswell's return was most evident on the defensive end. He missed seven games with a broken hand.
"He's our most important player on the defensive end, so it was great to have him back,'' Mirkovic said.
DeVries said Boswell made it tough on Indiana's rhythm offensively.
"I think the biggest thing with him is the defensive ability he brings,'' DeVries said of Boswell's presence. "I thought he did a really good job of making things hard on Lamar a lot of the time. What he brings and adds to the team in his return is another defensive guy who can really be that shutdown guy.''
The Hoosiers have five regular-season games left to add to their NCAA Tournament. It helped tremendously that they had big home wins last week against Wisconsin and Oregon, so they have built in a little cushion to soften the blow of a Quad-1 loss to Illinois. The Illini are now 21-5 and 11-3 in the Big Ten.
"That was the best we've played defensively, and the insertion of Kylan Boswell certainly makes a big difference,'' Illinois coach Brad Underwood said. "On a night we didn't shoot the ball well and still win by 20 points against a team that's won five of six and is an NCAA Tournament team, that says a lot about his group. They played at a high level defensively from start to finish.''
Indiana is back in action on Friday at Purdue. They've got home games remaining against Northwestern, Michigan State and Minnesota, and finish the season on the road at Ohio State on March 8.
The Big Ten Tournament is in Chicago this year, from March 10-15. All 18 teams will compete this year. Indiana needs to finish in the top-8 to avoid playing an extra game on Wednesday.