What does a hard-fought road loss mean at this point?
Indiana showed as much life Sunday as it's shown on the road, outside of its two wins at Nebraska and Minnesota, all season. When its most foundational methods of scoring weren't working and its defensive efforts struggled to stop Illinois in certain scenarios – guard versus guard play primarily – Indiana showed resilience that will be needed in neutral settings.
That being said, there is plenty to be addressed in backcourt defense and in finding consistent scoring, though those seem to be deeply ingrained in Indiana's identity.
Backcourt production
With the length of Illinois' backcourt and its ability to be a force on both ends of the floor, Indiana needed something from its guards after it all but disappeared at Purdue on Thursday.
While the game was always going to center on the freshman-on-freshman matchup of Trayce Jackson-Davis and Kofi Cockburn – and Jackson-Davis recorded 10 points and five rebounds in the first half – Al Durham, Rob Phinisee and Devonte Green needed to cash in decent-to-good performances Sunday in Champaign to have any chance at defeating the Illini.
By halftime, the guards had combined for 17 points, thanks to two three-point shots from Devonte Green, a strong finish at the rim and no turnovers from Phinisee and perfect shooting (2-for-2 from the field, 3-for-3 form the free throw line) from Durham. In addition to those 17 points, Indiana's backcourt recorded four rebounds, five assists and two turnovers.
That production wasn't there in the second half, and Indiana's defense in dribble-drive scenarios left plenty to be desired. Once the guards dropped off offensively and Kofi Cockburn took over physically, it was tough for the Hoosiers to find answers on either side.
Indiana owns rebounding
Sunday's game represented two of the best rebounding teams in the country. Illinois had the eighth-best rebounding rate in the country, and after hanging around the 10th-best for much of the season, Indiana had dipped to 24th.
At halftime, though, Indiana had dominated the glass, 20-12, including five from Justin Smith and five from Jackson-Davis. Kofi Cockburn, who averages 13 points and just under 10 rebounds per game, had three points and two rebounds in the first half.
Debilitating scoring drought
As time passed by Sunday, it seemed Indiana might escape Illinois without one of its trademark scoring droughts. The Hoosiers had crossed into the back-end of the second half leading 53-51, but a 9-0 run not only surrendered the lead but dropped Indiana into its largest deficit of the game at the time, 60-53.
It was bound to happen at some point in the game, when Indiana's offensive production from its guards slowed. Before the scoring drought, Green had converted a three-point play, and those points were the only three points scored by an Indiana guard in the second half by the 9:27 mark.
Jerome Hunter had knocked down a couple threes, and Justin Smith scored six points in the first 10 minutes of the second half, but once Kofi Cockburn took over, Indiana didn't have an answer. He scored six of the nine points during the 9-0 run and boosted his second half total to 10 points during that time.
----
• Talk about it inside The Hoops Forum or The Football Forum
• Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes
• Follow us on Twitter: @IndianaRivals
• Like us on Facebook.
