IU basketball suffered a lopsided loss on Sunday afternoon, falling to Illinois 71-51 at the State Farm Center.
Here are five takeaways from the loss to the Fighting Illini:
Indiana held to a season-low 51 points
It was an offensive performance to forget for Indiana against the Fighting Illini.
The Hoosiers were held to a season-low 51 points and managed only .901 points per possession, their second-lowest output in a game this season.
Poor 3-point shooting was the catalyst for Indiana’s low-scoring output. The Hoosiers shot 6-for-24 from 3-point range, marking the fourth time this season IU has made six or fewer 3-pointers.
“I actually thought we had some really good possessions,” Darian DeVries said postgame. “Got some pretty clean looks by guys we want taking them and we didn’t make them.”
Indiana also turned it over on 14.8 percent of its possessions against an opponent in Illinois that forces the lowest amount of turnovers in the conference.
As a result of the offensive struggles, the Hoosiers were beaten by 20 or more points for just the second time this season.
Indiana couldn’t keep Illinois off the offensive glass
Defensive rebounding has been a struggle for Indiana against the Big Ten’s biggest and most athletic teams all season.
The Fighting Illini grabbed 41.7 percent of their missed shots on Sunday, the second-highest offensive rebounding percentage by an opponent this season against the Hoosiers.
Only Michigan State, which grabbed 48.1 percent of its misses against the Hoosiers in an 81-60 result on January 13 in East Lansing, fared better on the boards this season against IU.
“We knew it was the No. 1 thing we were going to have to do a good job of if we were going to come in here and win,” Darian DeVries said. “Illinois is one of the best rebounding teams in the country and for good reason… they’ve got great size, they go with some physicality and they go with effort.”
Illinois turned 15 offensive rebounds into 17 second-chance points. In total, the Fighting Illini outscored the Hoosiers 17-5 on second-chance points in the decisive win.
Another Big Ten game with 20 or more points for Lamar Wilkerson
The one constant for IU offensively this season has been senior guard Lamar Wilkerson.
Despite the 20-point loss on Sunday, Wilkerson was still productive for the Hoosiers.
The 6-foot-6 guard scored 21 points in 39 minutes. Wilkerson shot 8-for-14 from the floor and 3-for-3 from the free-throw line.
In Big Ten games, Wilkerson is shooting 53-for-140 on 3-pointers (37.9 percent) and 70-for-115 on 2s (60.9 percent). He’s also among the league’s best free-throw shooters at 64-for-71 from the stripe, which is 90.1 percent.
Wilkerson is making a strong case for All-Big Ten honors and has now scored 20 or more points in 10 of Indiana’s 15 conference games.
Nick Dorn has disappeared offensively
After scoring 67 points in three games beginning with the Rutgers game on January 23, Nick Dorn has regressed significantly over IU’s last four games.
The 6-foot-7 wing has totaled just 18 points over the last four games and is 4-for-26 on 3-pointers over that span.
Dorn’s latest performance on Sunday: one point on 0-for-5 shooting in 33 minutes at Illinois. His only point came from the free-throw line early in the opening half.
While Dorn’s 3-point shooting percentage this season is still strong at 38.6 percent overall, he’s now just 32-for-90 (35.6 percent) in Big Ten play.
There’s no doubt that Indiana played some of its best basketball of the season when Dorn was hot in those three games against Rutgers, Purdue and UCLA. Indiana desperately needs to get him back on track for the stretch run of the season in order to make the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2023.
Illinois is good enough to win the national championship
At 21-5 overall, 12-3 in the Big Ten and No. 5 in KenPom as of late Sunday afternoon, Brad Underwood might have his best team yet in Champaign.
Now in his ninth season at the helm, Underwood has finished a season as high as No. 10 in KenPom and reached the Elite Eight in the 2024 NCAA tournament.
But this appears to be his best chance to reach the Final Four thus far at Illinois.
The Fighting Illini have the nation’s best offense, size at every position and showed on Sunday they can defend, too.
With an emerging star in Keaton Wagler, a veteran guard who can defend in Kylan Boswell and other key contributors like David Mirkovic, Andrej Stojakovic, Tomislav Ivisic, Jake Davis, Ben Humrichous and Zvonimir Ivisic, it’s hard to find a weakness with Illinois.
Don’t be surprised to see Illinois in Indianapolis in the Final Four in early April.
(Photo credit: IU Athletics)
See More: Five Takeaways, Illinois Fighting Illini, Lamar Wilkerson, Nick Dorn