February 15, 2009

Associated Press

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Mike Tisdale and Mike Davis both scored 16 points Sunday and Illinois (No. 20 ESPN/USA Today, No. 22 AP) held off Indiana's second-half rally for a 65-52 victory.

The Fighting Illini (21-5, 9-4 Big Ten) won their third straight overall and improved to 10-4 against the Hoosiers in the last 14 games.

Matt Roth had 13 points for Indiana (6-18, 1-11), which couldn't avoid setting another dubious school record -- becoming the first Hoosiers team to lose 18 games in a season. The 1969-70 team lost 17 games and set the school record for Big Ten losses (11), a mark this Indiana team has tied.

Below is a recap of Illinois head coach Bruce Weber's post game comments

First half, your team played as well as they have all year. You knew Indiana was going to make a charge and Frazier hits the huge three when the Hoosiers are coming back and that changes momentum.

Bruce Weber: It reminded me of the Purdue game three years ago. They play this line and three, guard the guards usually and leave the big guys in the lane. Instead of a triangle and two, box in one, they call it a line and three. Last time they did on the big guys, this time they did it on Chester. Chester got a little shook and we just told him to pass the ball and cut and sooner or later, you will get something and we got a layup on one of them but I think he takes it as a challenge, 'I am going to show you' and Chester did make that big three which was crucial. We finally got some stops, that was the worst thing, first half we played so well defensively...second half, missed a couple of shots, let the crowd get into it and let them drive right by us....didn't put up a good fight. First half, as good as we could have asked for. We have asked for a sense of urgency and we definitely had that on both ends of the court. 14 assists out of seventeen baskets first half. Got easy looks, great stops and 2nd half, you knew they were going to make a run somewhere in there. They did, put some pressure on us. Good for Alex, he made a couple of shots first half, we got some free throws down when we needed it.

Bench was good and Indiana I think we counted gave you five different looks today. Defense came up big, Jeff Jordan with a couple of big blocks, points also.

Bruce Weber: Jeffrey did a good job. Played with energy, really guarded, got a nice jumper on a UCLA cut. Calvin Brock came in and gave us good energy, got the dunk and the technical and they warned us before the game, he made the dunk and made a facial expression. I told them, just win the game, you don't have to....first of all, I don't want to infuriate the crowd, that is the dumbest thing you can do. Calvin....I am not condoning because I don't like trash talking and antics, he yelled after he had dunked that and they warned him and it's a national TV game, have to be smart. That gave them a little momentum. One other play, Demetri stole the ball, has Calvin I think on coming and....just make the pass....he goes in and claims he was fouled but they came back and made some plays, that was another momentum play.

A bunch of points in the paint. I thought that was key today.

Bruce Weber: First half we moved it, no matter what defense they were in, we recognized it, were patient and moved the ball inside. Only shot five three's in the first half. Second half shot five more and that's good because you don't have to shoot three's. We are good mid-range shooters and if we spread people and kick, it makes it tough for people to defend us.

McCamey and Meacham, two stars of the last game struggled today.

Bruce Weber: Demetri has been sick. I don't know what he came down with, the sinus bug, happened Friday night, Saturday, he gave it a good go but I think he just ran out of it. Trent just stayed in foul trouble. That was the problem with that. But it was great that our bench came through.

Team had ten blocks out there today.

Bruce Weber: That was impressive. Mike Davis again, 16 points, ten boards and four blocks. That is pretty good numbers. Tisdale 16 and six. I told the guys, I don't care what the score is, I just want to win. I said that if we win by 12, I will be so happy and we won by 13. We won the rebounding battle and they are a pretty good rebounding team if you study their stats. Chester Frazier did a good job of pressuring Verdell...Jones, made him struggle. Roth got going a little bit second half. He hit some big shots from them. And they don't quit. I am amazed at what Tom Crean has done here. He keeps them focused, even at halftime, they could have quit. They didn't. We really did a good job on them first half. They come back and made it a go. But we got a victory and that is the most important thing.

Two road games out of the way and now, 21 wins, 2nd place all by yourself and now you get to go home and play a home game.

Bruce Weber: A huge home game against Penn State. Break this Thursday-Sunday cycle, now it's Wednesday-Sunday. But they're some tickets left for Wednesday's game. We are pretty good and I hope people show. They had a sellout here today and they have one win. I would think some would take that as a challenge and support these guys. Someone said we are 13 in RPI and I don't know if that is true but we are pretty good. We have a chance to make a run. Tuesday has Purdue and Michigan State....and I am hoping the students get on board so we get the place sold out for Penn State, Minnesota the next week. Michigan State is sold out. It would be great to have a sellout. These guys deserve it. Penn State was struggling but they did win yesterday after losing a couple in a row. They are fighting for their life and have beaten us twice in a row at home during these guys tenure. A couple of years ago, they beat us....Rich McBride had the shot and if we make that shot, we tie at the time for a Big Ten championship. In a way, they stole that thing for us. They had our number last year but we got them in the tournament. It's a big game and hopefully our kids play with the same urgency that they did today.