From start-to-finish, the Hoosiers were energized, hungry and focused, ultimately making them dominant.
Jalen Coleman-Lands and Malcolm Hill scored 21 points each for Illinois, and Maverick Morgan had 18.
“As I told the guys in the locker room, we’ll have to make some changes — I didn’t like our start,” Illinois coach John Groce said. “I loved our response to cut it to . 13 (points). I thought the last four minutes of the first half were huge. … At the end of the day, I think the difference was certainly the start of the game.”
“We’re really buying-in to the scouting report. The coaches do a great job of giving us what we need, then it’s up to us to execute,” Blackmon Jr. said. “We’re happy about our effort and how we came out from the beginning (of the game). That’s one thing we have to keep working on. We just have to maintain and build on this game.”
BIG PICTURE: The Hoosiers will hit the road for four — Maryland, Penn State, Michigan, Northwestern — of their remaining six conference games in the month of January.
UP NEXT:
Illinois: Hosts Michigan on Wednesday.
