By Paul M. Banks and Paul Schmidt
Obviously, there have been bigger games than this between Indiana and Illinois lately. A match-up between one probable NIT team and a no postseason team isn’t exactly the biggest case on the docket today. But there have been some REALLY BIG games in the history of rivalry. And here are some fun facts about these two programs and this rivalry which will make the reader realize how underrated this rivalry is. Dare I say it might even be the basketball answer to Ohio St.-Michigan in football?
–Illinois has the highest all-time winning percentage among Big Ten schools, and ranks second behind Indiana in all-time victories. In all-time Big Ten play, the Illini are first in conference wins, and third in winning percentage behind Purdue and Indiana.
–Illinois ranks second in the Big Ten behind Indiana in total NCAA appearances with 28
–Illinois has the 12th best all-time winning percentage (.653) among Division I schools.
–Illinois has an all-time record of 1,622-861. The 1,622 wins rank 13th on the NCAA Division I list.
–Illinois has had a total of seven players drafted since 2002, which leads the Big Ten and is the 10th highest total of any program in the nation over the last seven years.
Yes Illination, I am just giving you some brain candy here, to help get you through what has been a very difficult season
Series Record: Indiana leads 82-81 –It has symmetry, a critical component to any true rivalry!
Last Meeting: Illinois 66, Indiana 60 (Jan. 9, 2010 at Bloomington) –that was a cardiac game
Series Streak: Illinois W-3
Record at Champaign: Illinois leads 47-31
Series Streak at Champaign: Illinois W-1 –Like Will Ferrell said in “Old School” “we’re going streaking”
Weber vs. Indiana at Illinois: 9-4
Weber vs. Indiana All-Time: 10-5
And since we’re having fun with charts and tables here….and we still have a half hour till tipoff…Here is an interesting chart highlighting how “my guy”, Demetri McCamey is becoming a one team for the Illini
Demetri McCamey leads the Illini (10th in Big Ten) in scoring (15.5 ppg) and assists (7.0 apg) in conference play. In fact, McCamey leads the conference in assists (13th nationally) has accounted for nearly 47 percent of Illinois’ offense in Big Ten games, scoring 124 points and assisting on another 135 points for a combined 259 points out of Illinois’ team total of 554 points. Here is a detailed look at his production on offense in conference play:
Opponent Pts Scored Pts Assisted Cmbd Pts Team Pts % Off
Northwestern 9 17 26 89 29.2
Iowa 9 16 25 59 4 2.4
at Indiana 19 19 38 66 57.6
Penn State 25 13 38 54 70.4
at Michigan State 15 14 29 63 46.0
Purdue 28 22 50 78 64.1
at Northwestern 13 9 22 68 32.4
at Penn State 6 25 31 77 40.3
Total 124 135 259 554 46.8
Ok, so we’re almost ready for tip-off to get our live blog going, but first a little humor….
It’s also a special treat that this game will have Steve Lavin announcing it!! Fun…expect references to players being “beep-beepers” and “up on pogo sticks”. Usually when you get Lav you also get Erin Andrews. No EA this time unfortunately.
Illinois-Indiana TIPOFF! Walked into the stadium with 7 minutes before tipoff, just got logged in! Good times! (PS)
Illinois-Indiana player Intros: So far this place is HOPPINg, but isn’t quite full. Illinois fans are NOTORIOUS late arrivers, especially for early starts, and I suppose that 1 PM counts as an eraly start here in Champaign, especially if you were out all night. Believe me, I’m not judging. Done that, been there. (PS)
Illinois-Indiana tipoff: Uhh…the pink trimmed unis are ugly. UGLY Ugly UGLYugly UGLLLLLLY as hell! Oh wow. At least we are orange-ing out the Ass. Hall and not pinking it out. Which would be…well, easier to type….(PS)
Illinois 0, Indiana 0 19:40 left 1H: I’m sorry, I cannot reiterate enough how ridiculous these guys look live. I hope it translates to TV….(PS)
Illinois 2, Indiana 2 19:10 left 1H: Wow, the Krush does NOT like Tom Crean. How can you not like Tom Crean?? (PS)
Illinois 7, Indiana 4, 17:21 left 1H: Two early fouls on Pritchard for the Hoosiers and he comes out. Crean just yelled at Bruce in the middle of the game, which was weird, though I think it was in a friendly way, not an angry one.
Tyler Griffey looks great early on, great D and solid in the post. He’s playing like a man, he’s 42!!! Well, that’s his number anyway…(PS)
Illinois 13, Indiana 9, 13:33 left 1H: Here’s some words I never thought I would type: Tyler Griffey is too athletic for the Hoosiers to cover. I now need a minute to recover from that revelation…
Seriously, he’s dominating in the post, he’s beating his man off the dribble from the perimeter…I don’t know if Mike Davis is going to get his job back at this rate…(PS)
Illinois 13, Indiana 12 13:00 left 1H: PB, who is MIA today and much more into haute coture than I am…he likes the pink unis. I think we need to wear blue for prostate awareness. Or prostate cancer awareness. Or whatever it is.
Dom Keller just got jacked in the jaw after a nice dunk on the fast break…Of course he got called for the foul for putting his jaw in harm’s way…Also Bruce is constantly yelling, “MOVE BRANDON!” to Brandon Paul, who I assume isn’t moving enough. He’s just not happy with the Warren product’s advancement of his game this season. (PS)
Illinois 17, Indiana 12 10:25 left 1H: Nice pass from Cames to Mike Davis for the big dunk on the fast break! Tough for Davis to miss that one. SEND IT IN, BIG MAN! (PS)
Illinois 17, Indiana 12, 9:00 left 1H: The Krush giving it up for the camera guy, who took a facial from the basketball, and is certainly going to have a black eye tomorrow morning…
Weird stat of the game so far…Brandon Paul with no points, but 4 rebounds…
And IU can not like the uniforms because I have taste, PB. But the shoes…It’s gotta be the shoes Michael. They actually are growing on me. But the jerseys are awful…they should have probably used blue where they did silver…they are actually difficult to read as they are. (PS)
Illinois 19, Indiana 15 7:54 left 1H: We made it to the 8 minute time out, and the Illini still have never trailed…they haven’t been overly impressive so far, and there seems to be consternation from both benches over how tightly the game is being called, with both teams having some trouble adjusting. Illinois is already in the bonus, and Indiana is almost there, and I think the whistles are interrupting the flow of the game right now — both teams seem to want to run, and are almost being forced into the halfcourt by the officials. (PS)
Illinois 24, Indiana 15, 6:53 left 1H: What a difference a minute makes! after a couple of free throws Demetri McCamey — also known as the Illini captain and MVP — hits a huge wide open three, and suddenly the lead is nine. The Hoosiers need a hoop there desperately…and don’t get it!
Two big Mike Tisdale blocks in a row (sandwiched around a Mike Tisdale turnover, which is classic Tisdale if you’ve watched enough Illinois basketball), and now BILL COLE is shooting free throws for a double digit lead…(PS)
Illinois 30, Indiana 20, 3:44 left 1H: Oh wow, what a pretty little pick-and-roll from Brandon Paul to Tyler Griffey! The two freshmen hooking up has to make you feel good for the future of the program!
The Griffey layup pushes the lead back out to 10 points, after they let the Hoosiers chip away all the way down to 8 in classic Illini fashion — they just cannot put the boot on anyone’s throat. They have seriously problems putting teams away, and if the Hoosiers keep it around 8 or 10, they have a shot to win here. If Illinois can widen the lead to the mid-teens, they are in serious trouble. The next couple minutes will speak volumes about the Illini’s future this season. (PS)
Illinois 34, Indiana 29, 2:17 left 1H: dskljfads;kljfdas;lh ue;owaf. Tha’ts my thoughts on the last couple of sequences…
Incidentally, McCamey is sitting with two fouls, along with Tis and Tyler Griffey…these next couple of minutes are really important…SOMEONE needs to play defense. (PS)
Illinois 36, Indiana 31, 1:25 left 1H: Hoosiers not going away, and the Illini not putting them away. This is bad, very bad. (PS)
Illinois 36, Indiana 31, :28.0 left 1H: The Hoosiers will end the half with a chance to cut the lead to as little as 2, which is horrifying considering that the lead was 13 with about 5 minutes left in the half. It’s been, currently, a 16-8 run by the Hoosiers to close out the half….(PS)
Illinois 36, Indiana 36, HALFTIME: Umm…well that went worse than I expected. Alot worse. After a Verdell Jones layup, Devin Dumas stripped DJ Richardson at half court and threw in a running three point attempt to tie the game heading into halftime, meaning the Hoosiers finished the half on a 21-8 run. Over, like, 5 minutes of game play.
Do they serve alcohol here? I need to drink away the last few minutes of the first half. (PS)
Illinois 36, Indiana 36, Start of the Second Half: Well…I expected to see Bruce floating into the stadium, a la Jean Grey from the X-Men comics, throwing his fury at the team and maybe melting their skulls. No such luck.
Joe from Hail To The Orange, the Illini blog at SB Nation, figured out the Illini are -9 with Demetri McCamey on the bench — in other words, losing by nine points without him in the game. Oof.
Lou Henson on the replay board! Urging the Illini to beat the Hoosiers! Ahh…I miss ya Lou! (PS)
Indiana 38, Illinois 36, 18:40 left 2H: And the Hoosiers lead by two, and the Illini turn the ball over. This is turning into a disaster. (PS)
Illinois 38, Indiana 38 18:15 left 2H: And the second McCamey free throw ties the game, and is his 1,000th point in an Illinois uniform. One has to believ that he will end up with many, many more. (PS)
Illinois 42, Indiana 40, 17:13 left 2H: A drive and dunk by McCamey ties the game, a rushed, missed shot by the Hoosiers and an Illinois rebound, and then Cames pushes it up court to DJ Richardson who was, let’s be honest, cherry picking up court for the easy layup. Great transition, and the Illini lead. They may actually have a little of the momentum back…(PS)
Illinois 44, Indiana 40, 16:08 left 2H: Weak technical on Christain Watford for Indiana. He didn’t like the call, and with good reason, as it wasn’t the best call I’ve seen. The officials could hav ejust as easily talked to McCamey and Watford and said hey, cool it out, but that wasn’t the route they chose in a four point game…(PS)
Illinois 47, Indiana 43, 14:44 left 2H: Well, McCamey only hit one FT, and then the Illini turned the ball over DIRECTLY leading to a Devan Dumas three pointer, which then led to a Tisdale dunk on the other end. So…after all that…we’re back where we started before the technical, heading into the 16 minute time out. Indiana will be, I believe, shooting free throws when we return. (PS)
Indiana 50, Illinois 47, 13:40 left 2H: And the Hoosiers lead again…Illinois is playing a terrible combination of playing down to their opponent and looking like they don’t give a crap. Hoosiers are hitting something like 55% of their threes, too, which is helpful…
Jeff Jordan just got called for travelling while dribbling. That’s an interesting call….(PS)
Indiana 53, Illinois 47, 12:55 left 2H: I wouldn’t normally say that officials need glasses…but um…this crew does. We’ve gone to the monitor for replay 3 times this game?? Seriously guys? I’ve seen it twice live all season, and we’ve done it three times today? That’s a pretty bad job, fellas. (PS)
Indiana 53, Illinois 47, 12:28 left 2H: This is why you don’t let terrible teams hang around. THIS is why you put teams away when you have the chance. When you are up 13 at home, against a bottom-feeding team from your conference, YOU PUT THEM AWAY. GRING THE DAMN BOOT INTO THEIR THROAT. You don’t let them close out the half with a 21-8 run.
Now you’re down 6, disoriented, and you’ve given them confidence. Just a terrible job of coaching, playing, and of showing any dedication and heart whatsoever.
PROVE you are worthy of this crowd’s love and dedication. Because right now you are letting everyone here and at home down, Illini. The Illini nation should completely abandon you if you lose this game. (PS)
Indiana 55, Illinois 49, 11:00 left 2H: WHY IS BRANDON PAUL THE ONLY ONE BOXING OUT IN THE POST???? WHY???? WHY WHY WHY?????? (PS)
Indiana 55, Illinois 51, 10:15 left 2H: OK, the Hoosiers have 8 fouls, POUND IT INSIDE. Let’s win this at the free throw line. Our outside shooting isn’t there, get it down low. (PS)
Indiana 57, Illinois 54, 8:30 left 2H: Current Illini offense: Stand around and let McCamey create. Otherwise…nothing. To his credit, he is trying to get people involved, but they really aren’t letting him. Not a lot of motion, and no one is posting up down low. Our last possession led to a Tyler Griffey three, for heaven’s sake…(PS)
Indiana 59, Illinois 56, 7:28 left 2H: Weird sequence where both teams turned the ball over twice, and then Indiana guard Jeremiah Rivers committed a loose ball foul on DJ Richardson heading into the 8 minute time out (Illinois will have the 1 and the bonus when we get back from break).
Tom Crean then met Rivers at half court, told him that everything was alright, and gave him a big hug. I swear to God I’m not making that up…(PS)
Indiana 61, Illinois 59, 5:47 left 2H: DJ Richardson is one of his last three FT’s including the missed front end of a one and one. (PS)
Indiana 63, Illinois 61, 5:00 left 2H: UP AND UNDER BY CAMES!!! He is avsolutely carrying this team in the second half, and the crowd is EPICALLY loud right now…which they shouldn’t have to be because we’re playing Indiana of all teams, but still…(PS)’
Indiana 64, Illinois 61, 4:34 left 2H: Nice bailout foul by Bill Cole on an inbounds play by the Hoosiers with one second left on the shot clock. FML. (PS)
Illinois 64, Indiana 64, 3:45 left 2H: BILL! COLE! FOR! THREE!! Ok, ok…I love ya Billy! I take it all back. (PS)
Illinois 66, Indiana 66, 2:46 left 2H: Illinois will not allow themselves to pull away, either because of stupid turnovers or terrible rebounding. Just an awful effort in awful uniforms, I cannot reiterate it enough. (PS)
Illinois 68, Indiana 66, 1:51 left 2H: Hoosiers turn the ball over after a nifty Mike Tisdale up and over hook shot after an offensive board…they might win this one yet, we’ll see…(PS)
Illinois 70, Indiana 66, 1:00 left 2H: Mike Tisdale shooting, and hitting two free throws for the 4 point lead with a minute left…I’ll be back with the post game wrap up in the press room…(PS)
Illinois 72, Indiana 70, FINAL: What appeared to be the worst possession ever — ok, not ever, but since the Gonzaga game at the United Center — turned out…umm…just how it was planned ? Sure, let’s go with that.
Still, Illinois hero Demetri McCamey comes through for the win, with a running tear-drop jumper to win the game as time expired. For good measure, the officials review the call, the fourth time they went to the tape during the game…but the shot would stand.
Hopefully, the Loren Tate vendetta against Demetri McCamey will finally come to an end after this performance — one where he simply WAS the Illini offense.
More after the pressers. (PS)