2/6/2022 basketball Edit

Quick Hitters: Takeaways from IU's loss to Illinois

Alec Lasley • TheHoosier

Senior Writer

@allasley

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Indiana failed to come away with a win on Saturday as it fell to No. 18 Illinois 74-57.

It was a disastrous second half for the Hoosiers in which they were outscored by 19 points en route to a 17-point loss.

The Hoosiers now move to 16-6 (7-5) on the season and continue to sit at sixth in the Big Ten.

IU is off to Northwestern on Tuesday for a road matchup with the Wildcats.

Here are the main takeaways from IU's loss to Illinois on Saturday.

IU was outscored 40-21 in the second half en route to a 17-point loss to Illinois on Saturday. (IU Athletics)

Second half offensive struggles: After scoring 36 points in the first half, IU had just 21 points in the second and scored just .677 points per possession after halftime. In 31 possessions, IU had just 10 scores and a huge reason was due to the turnover issues. Eight of the 10 turnovers for Indiana came after halftime, a 25.3 percent turnover rate. In total, the Hoosiers were just 8-of-27 from the field and 1-of-6 from the three point line after halftime.

3pt shooting: Indiana is making 34.7 percent of its 3s, up from 32.4 percent last year, but continue to struggle finding success from multiple players. IU was just 3-of-13 from thee on Saturday and were outscored 30-9 on 3s. Miller Kopp didn't attempt a single shot while Parker Stewart didn't score in the second half. Race Thompson, who had been shooting better from three over the last four games, was 0-of-3. If Indiana can't find some consistency from players not named Parker Stewart, it's going to be a rough offensive showing for IU down the stretch this year.

Trayce Jackson-Davis disappeared: Foul trouble was again an issue for Jackson-Davis, who picked up two fouls just five minutes into the game. After sitting for the rest of the first half, he was pretty much still non-existent in the second half. In 19 minutes after the half, Jackson-Davis had six points and was just 3-of-8 from the field with three turnovers. It's another game in which he struggled with size and strength and failed to make any sort of impact.

Perimeter defense still an issue: Indiana's defense has been very good for most of the season but has struggled containing perimeter players at times. Trent Frazier was added to that list on Saturday as he had a game-high 23 points and was 8-of-11 from the field. 14 of his points came after halftime when he was 5-of-6 from the field. Frazier played 36 minutes and had just one turnover. With no Rob Phinisee, IU's guards have struggled against quick guards and that was no different on Saturday.

Xavier Johnson continued solid play: There weren't a lot of positives from Saturday's game but Johnson did have a good effort out there. He was asked to do a lot to make up for not having Jackson-Davis on the floor for that first half and had nine first half points. Johnson finished with 12 points, five rebounds and five assists for the game and while he was just 4-of-11 from the field, most of those misses came in the second half trying to get IU back in some sort of rhythm. He had just two turnovers in 32 minutes.

Important stretch for Hoosiers off to rough start: WIth Illinois included, this stretch of five games includes four ranked opponents -- two coming on the road. Indiana travels to Northwestern on Tuesday and need to come out with a win in that game with then three straight ranked opponents on the schedule. We keep hearing the phrase 'only playing 20 minutes' and IU can't continue to do that with this stretch of games coming up.