What a year, what a week: Illinois 74, #1 Indiana 72

[striker219]

Indiana 72, Illinois 74

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/gametracker/live/NCAAB_20130207_IND@ILL

[matt1]

Indiana 72, Illinois 74

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/gametracker/live/NCAAB_20130207_IND@ILL

Michigan is now in position to retake #1. Should they lose, we would be back to #1 (unless we lose). My guess is that Indiana would stay #1 if both we and Michigan lose (Gonzaga would be next in line).

[matt1]

Duke
Michigan
Gonzaga
Arizona
and- wait for it...
Stephen F. Austin

[dukelifer]

Indiana 72, Illinois 74

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/gametracker/live/NCAAB_20130207_IND@ILL

I turned it off with 5:30 to go. Indiana had it well in hand. Need to see what happened

[DukieInBrasil]

I turned it off with 5:30 to go. Indiana had it well in hand. Need to see what happened
Illinois went on an 11-0 run late and then magically got a steal in the closing seconds and got a buzzer beating layup to win it. Amazing finish!

[dukelifer]

Illinois went on an 11-0 run late and then magically got a steal in the closing seconds and got a buzzer beating layup to win it. Amazing finish!

Wow. Place must have gone crazy

[Saratoga2]

Duke
Michigan
Gonzaga
Arizona
and- wait for it...
Stephen F. Austin

Seems like a curse. Michigan will face some tough remaining games as will Indiana. Our win tonight puts us back near the top

[UrinalCake]

I remember back in 2001 (I think) Duke had regained the #1 ranking after dropping for a period of a few weeks. Some reporter asked Battier what happens to a team once they become ranked #1 and his answer was simply "you lose."

[throatybeard]

That was utterly sick. There's been a lot of talk about Illinois' troubles in my media market. The (sorry I'm this way) absolutely gorgeous producer of the ESPN 101 radio here, Michelle Smallmon, is a UIUC alum, and she warned us something like this could happen. Those threes were nuts. I'm very happy for her.

[gus]

The block at the end of the game... if the Indiana player had just gone up straight and blocked the ball back into the court instead of swatting it emphatically, mutombo style, into the seats... the game would have gone into overtime.

[Des Esseintes]

The block at the end of the game... if the Indiana player had just gone up straight and blocked the ball back into the court instead of swatting it emphatically, mutombo style, into the seats... the game would have gone into overtime.

I have to disagree strongly here. As a poster stated above, that Illinois had the ball at that point was due to a magical, closing-seconds steal. The player looked like he had a clean layup, and the Indiana player came from absolute nowhere to block it. The kid was running at an absolute dead sprint, and the fact that he was able to make the block and save the game in that moment was nothing short of incredible. Going "straight up" wasn't in the neighborhood of an option. He was chasing him from behind! Going straight up would have meant hopping into the air at the free throw line while Illinois made a layup and won the game. That block saved the game (momentarily). Criticizing him for not saving the game well enough, especially since, again, he was running at a dead sprint to catch a player from behind, is unfair. Show me the person who could "softly" make that particular block.

That Indiana gave up an uncontested layup on the following inbounds was the foolishness you should be criticizing.

[Jarhead]

I have to disagree strongly here. As a poster stated above, that Illinois had the ball at that point was due to a magical, closing-seconds steal. The player looked like he had a clean layup, and the Indiana player came from absolute nowhere to block it. The kid was running at an absolute dead sprint, and the fact that he was able to make the block and save the game in that moment was nothing short of incredible. Going "straight up" wasn't in the neighborhood of an option. He was chasing him from behind! Going straight up would have meant hopping into the air at the free throw line while Illinois made a layup and won the game. That block saved the game (momentarily). Criticizing him for not saving the game well enough, especially since, again, he was running at a dead sprint to catch a player from behind, is unfair. Show me the person who could "softly" make that particular block.

That Indiana gave up an uncontested layup on the following inbounds was the foolishness you should be criticizing.

As I was waiting for the Duke game to start, I watched that final layup several times. Mrs. Jarhead asked me how that happened. I tried to explain it to her, but gave up doing so when she switched over to the Duke game. I had somehow lost control of the remote.http://crazietalk.net/ourhouse/images/smilies/43.gif

[gus]

I have to disagree strongly here. As a poster stated above, that Illinois had the ball at that point was due to a magical, closing-seconds steal. The player looked like he had a clean layup, and the Indiana player came from absolute nowhere to block it. The kid was running at an absolute dead sprint, and the fact that he was able to make the block and save the game in that moment was nothing short of incredible. Going "straight up" wasn't in the neighborhood of an option. He was chasing him from behind! Going straight up would have meant hopping into the air at the free throw line while Illinois made a layup and won the game. That block saved the game (momentarily). Criticizing him for not saving the game well enough, especially since, again, he was running at a dead sprint to catch a player from behind, is unfair. Show me the person who could "softly" make that particular block.

That Indiana gave up an uncontested layup on the following inbounds was the foolishness you should be criticizing.

I went back and watched the play -- I think the truth is in between our two descriptions. It was Oladipo (#4) who turned it over, and sprinted down court in time to make the block. While he was no longer sprinting by the time he made the block, going straight up wasn't an option. But he definitely swatted it as hard as he could instead.

No argument about the inbounds play.

[Des Esseintes]

I went back and watched the play -- I think the truth is in between our two descriptions. It was Oladipo (#4) who turned it over, and sprinted down court in time to make the block. While he was no longer sprinting by the time he made the block, going straight up wasn't an option. But he definitely swatted it as hard as he could instead.

No argument about the inbounds play.

The context must also be considered. It's a good idea to keep the ball in play when you have teammates to whom you can direct the ball. But Oladipo cannot see any teammates, doesn't know where they are. More importantly, he doesn't know where the Illini players are. In such a situation, keeping the ball in play has a good chance of falling into the hands of an opponent for an easy game-winning follow-up shot. If I were Crean, I would not be at all upset with Oladipo's decision to bat it out of bounds, even if we grant that Oladipo was acting out of choice rather than necessity in that moment. (Turning it over at midcourt, that would make me angry.) I mean, you have to trust your defense to hold steady on the inbounds for a whole second.

[mapei]

For me, the most shocking thing was the complete failure of the Indiana defense on the final play. They were utterly unprepared and flat-footed. And, can that really be done in 0.9 seconds?