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BLOOMINGTON, Ind - It was all tied up with 1:31 left in the game and freshman guard Jalen Hood-Schifino, Indiana's second-leading scorer and leader in assists, turned it over at the top of the key leading to a fast break dunk for Illinois.
Then, down two points, Hood-Schifino brushed off of a ball screen to his patented 15-footer and drained a jumper to tie the game at 67-all with 1:17 left. He would go on to make two more free throws with 30 seconds left to take a two-point lead and eventually be the two points that led Indiana to a 71-68 win over Illinois.
"it wasn't pretty, what I said. I mean, that's a coach's worst nightmare, man. You come out of the timeout and you throw the ball right to your opponent, and they didn't have to work for it," IU head coach Mike Woodson said postgame. "When he was coming back down, I was screaming at him like -- and he took it upon himself to run a pick-and-roll and make up for it and make the shot, and then he makes the two free throws, so go figure."
With Saturday's win, Indiana moves to 19-8 overall and 10-6 in Big Ten play. Indiana has now won 10+ games in Big Ten play for the first time since the 2015-16 season and just the fourth time since the 2007-08 season.
Hood-Schifino has been a critical part to the success of Indiana this season but as a freshman, he's had his ups and down. And, those ups and downs have also shown themselves within games.
In the first half on Saturday, Hood-Schifino had just two points on 1-of-8 from the field with three assists and three turnovers. In the second half, he had 11 points on 4-of-9 from the field and two turnovers.
It was his 15th game with 10+ points, finishing with 13 points despite shooting just 5-of-17 from the field. He added seven rebounds, second on the team, three assists and five turnovers in 37 minutes.
"He's a freshman. Freshmen make mistakes," Woodson said. "I just look at the process of where he's come from and the fact when you lose your starting point guard in Xavier Johnson and you turn the ball over to a freshman to run your ball-club at a major program, that's huge. It's huge.
"Make no mistake about it, he's put us in in position along with the supporting cast with Trayce Jackson-Davis leading the way. You're not going to shoot it well all the time, but I always judge players at the end of the game about who they are as a player, and he made the plays down the stretch that counted. That's what I look at."
Hood-Schifino is averaging 12.6 points, 4.1 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game this season, second on the team in scoring and first in the assists.
"He made every right play except for throwing the ball away out of the timeout. As a coach, that kind of tears you up," Woodson added. "But I thought he made winning plays coming down the stretch to help us win it."
Since Xavier Johnson went down with a broken foot on December 17, Hood-Schifino has averaged 14.4 points and shot 44 percent from the floor and 42 percent from three in 16 games. He has scored 16+ points eight times this season.
When he hasn't been firing on all cylinders, he has still come up big when Indiana needs him and has the confidence of an upperclassmen, not a freshman.
Saturday showed that once again for Indiana.
"Fino, he's a gamer. He works hard every day. He has the ultimate confidence in his abilities," Trayce Jackson-Davis said postgame. "Obviously he's a freshman, and sometimes he's going to struggle. That's when I come in, Miller (Kopp) comes in, and we get behind him and we tell him to keep going. I remember in the last media timeout, I said, 'if we run that high angle, get to your spot because you're going to be open'."
Hood-Schifino was one of four Hoosiers in double figures on Saturday. Indiana was led by Jackson-Davis who had 26 points on 12-of-19 from the floor. Miller Kopp had 12 points and Race Thompson added 10.
As he's done all season long, when big shots matter, Hood-Schifino is the guy Indiana goes to. And, like he's down all season, he's made big shots. Saturday was no different.
"He was kind of frustrated a little bit, he didn't really want to run it, and then down the stretch got to that spot and hit a huge shot, especially after turning the ball over," Jackson-Davis added. "It just shows how high of like a focus he has, and he's just next-play mentality, and he's just ready to go always."
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