Quick Start, Slow Burn For Illini Men In 73-65 Loss At Indiana

The Illini men saw another quick start devolve into another second-half lull last night in Bloomington, Indiana, where the Indiana Hoosiers rode a 40-15 run to victory. The final score was 73-65.

Illinois led 25-15 before the game-changing run, which was aided by 21 Illini turnovers, including five shot-clock violations.

Ayo Dosunmu led Illinois with 20 points. Giorgi Bezhanishvili added 18, including two of the team's first three baskets, scored using a high-low action that his team has had trouble implementing this year. He said the Hoosiers reacted to the high-low feed with a defensive fix.

"If you watch the film, on the roll, the opposite guy, the help guy always bumped me, not letting me roll to the basket," Bezhanishvili said. "and then it was harder to get the position. It was harder to get those catches."

Bezhanishvili also grabbed a team-high seven rebounds. Trent Frazier led the Illini with six assists.

Despite dropping to 0-3 in the Big Ten, and 4-10 overall, Illini coach Brad Underwood expressed pleasure with the performance of his newcomers.

"I'm excited about this group beyond what our record shows," Underwood said. "It's so exciting to go into practice every day because they fight. They know they lost today, but yet it's the next challenge, and the next day to get better."

Indiana, ranked 21st in the country, was led by Romeo Langford's game-high 28 points and 9 rebounds. Juwan Morgan added 15 for the Hoosiers, who improved to 3-0 in the Big Ten, and 12-2 overall.

The Illini will look for their first conference win Sunday at noon, when they face the Northwestern Wildcats, in Evanston.