Indiana got back to action after a nine-day break but failed to get the result it wanted, falling 75-71 in overtime to No. 12 Illinois on Tuesday.
It was a tale of two halves as Indiana had a 41-34 advantage at halftime, but failed to get the necessary play late in the game to come away with a win.
The Hoosiers now sit at 9-8 (4-6) on the season and look ahead to a tilt against No. 7 Iowa on Sunday, a team it just beat two weeks ago.
Here are the main takeaways from Indiana's loss to Illinois.
Rob Phinisee struggles...: The junior point guard played 13 minutes and finished with 0 points, 0 rebounds and 0 assists. He added five fouls. As a now three-year starter, that is unacceptable. Coming into the Illinois matchup, he was playing some of his best basketball to date, but that outing was extremely disappointing. It will be interesting to see how he rebounds on Sunday, but the inconsistent play that seemed to be going away came back in a big way.
Time to live and die by Khristian Lander?: Offensively, Lander has progressed by a great deal over the past few games and it really looks like he has control over the offense. Things seem to be slowing down for him. He had six points on two made 3's and two assists on Tuesday. defensively, however, is where Lander continues to struggle. He is out of position, both as a help side defender and even when he's on the ball. A rough stretch included when his man, Trent Frazier, went on a 8-0 run late in the second half. But, with the extremely inconsistent play of the upperclassmen guards continuing, there must come a time when you have to allow Lander to take over and see an increase in minutes.
Offense improvement is nowhere to be found: You would think after 3.5 years, including 17 games this season, that the IU offense would show some life. Somehow, that has yet to be the case. Indiana continues to go on long scoring droughts in every single game. On Tuesday, the Hoosiers scored seven points and connected on just two field goals in the final 11 minutes of game time - including overtime. It's not that the offense was missing shots, it was struggling to get any sort of good look.
Inability to close out games: It is once again something that continues to plague Indiana. IU's inability to finish games off, in regulation or overtime, is a huge problem. At some point, you need to find some way to do so. IU is now 1-3 in OT games and realistically, the Hoosiers were in control of all three losses coming down the wire (Florida St, Wisconsin, Illinois). Finding a way to get the loose balls or grab the key rebound continues to be an area Indiana lacks.
IU's frontcourt is the only consistent play: Once again, Indiana's frontcourt players remained the sole reason that IU stayed in a game. Trayce Jackson-Davis and Race Thompson combined for 22 points and 10 rebounds in the first half and finished with 37 points and 22 rebounds combined. That duo also combined for 12 of the 22 made field goals for Indiana. With little depth up front, it continues to put even more weight on the shoulders of TJD and Race Thompson.
No Jerome Hunter in the near future: It was a coach's decision as to why Hunter didn't play against Illinois and it isn't a situation that looks like it will be cleared up soon. Hunter provides so much for IU that will now be left up for grabs. IU will now be without his ability to stretch the floor - 38.1 percent on 3's - as a small-ball four and versatility on the offensive end in the frontcourt. The Hoosiers will look to Jordan Geronimo to slide into that role, albeit with a much different skillset.
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