Illini embarrassed by hot-shooting Hoosiers in blowout loss

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Defense hasn't been a strength for the Illini this season, and up against one of the higher-scoring teams in the country on Tuesday night, things got downright embarrassing.

For the first time since 1991, Illinois allowed a Big Ten opponent to score 100 points in a 103-69 rout of a loss to Indiana in Bloomington.

The Hoosiers had a monster night, shooting 56.9 percent from the field — including 68.8 percent in the second half — and knocking down a program-record 19 3-pointers in the win, improving to a perfect 6-0 in conference play and extending their winning streak to 11 games.

For the 12th time this season, Illinois allowed an opponent to hit at least nine 3-pointers.

It looked good for Indiana from the start, with a modest lead stretched out to 11 around the 11-minute mark of the first half. Illinois had a response, going on a 10-0 run to close within a point. But the Hoosiers exploded from there, leaping back out to a double-digit advantage and closing the half on a 20-4 run. The Illini scored four points and made just one basket in the final seven and a half minutes of the first half. Illinois shot just 32 percent from the field, went 3-for-9 from 3-point range and turned the ball over nine times over the first 20 minutes. Meanwhile, Indiana hit nine 3s.

The deficit at 17 at the start of the second half, the Hoosiers just continued to pour it on. The lead was 20 not even four minutes in, and during another four-and-a-half-minute basket-less stretch by Illinois, Indiana extended its lead as high as 24. Max Bielfeldt hit back-to-back 3-pointers to make it a 28-point game around the midway point of the half. Illinois native Nick Zeisloft hit a 3 to make it a 36-point game, and the lead hit a game high of 38 points on an O.G. Anunoby triple with under three minutes to play.

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The Illini actually shot better than 53 percent in the second half, but it wasn't nearly enough to keep up with the Hoosiers, who had a shooting percentage above 80 for a good deal of the period.

Illinois was mauled in just about every statistical category in what was the worst loss of the John Groce Era. Indiana had 25 points off of Illinois' 15 turnovers, and the Hoosiers won the rebounding battle, 38-25.

Malcolm Hill scored 20 points for the Illini, with Kendrick Nunn adding 10. Mike Thorne Jr., who missed the previous 11 games, returned for Illinois, scoring nine points and grabbing nine rebounds in 16 minutes.

Troy Williams was the high man for the Hoosiers with 21 points. Bielfeldt and Yogi Ferrell each had 16 points, with Ferrell becoming the program's all-time assists leader in the game. Robert Johnson added 13 points.

At one point sitting at 5-3 early in the season, Indiana has rattled off 11 wins in a row and remains one of two Big Ten teams with perfect conference records, Iowa the other. At 16-3 overall and 6-0 in league play, the Hoosiers next play host to Northwestern on Saturday.

Illinois dropped to 9-10 overall and 1-5 in conference play with the defeat. Next up is a trip to Minnesota on Saturday.

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