Illinois Basketball: 5 takeaways from the Illini win over Indiana

The Illinois basketball team needed a win on Wednesday night against the Indiana Hoosiers.

Illinois didn’t start the game off well, though. They were down 7-2 pretty quickly. That lead eventually turned into a 22-14 deficit for the Illini. I will give Illinois credit; they kept fighting the entire night. There was one time Indiana got the lead up to nine points in the first half but the Illini continued to chip away. Te’Jon Lucas hit a big three-pointer with under a minute to go in the first half to cut the deficit to 38-32 in favor of the Hoosiers.

The Illini came out better in the second half. They continued to cut the Indiana lead to start and even tied it up at 38-38 with 18:31 to go in the game. The two teams continued to go back and forth but then Indiana went on a 6-0 run and I was feeling nervous. They were starting to click and the Illini weren’t.

But, Illinois rebounded nicely with a 9-0 run that gave the team the lead 55-51 with 11:22 left in the second half. There weren’t too many made shots after that point, though. The teams went on a cold streak but continued to get to the free throw line. After a made basket by Indiana that brought the score to 66-63, Illinois extended their lead to eight points with 56-seconds remaining.

A few free throws and a shot were made by Indiana down the stretch and this game ended up being close. Indiana had a shot to either tie or win the game at the end but turned the ball over. The Illini won 73-71.

There is a lot you can take from this game. Here are my five takeaways from the Illini win over Indiana.