No Shannon, no win for Illini vs. No. 14 Hoosiers
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Trayce Jackson-Davis quickly caught and surpassed his coach on Indiana’s career scoring list Saturday. It took the senior more time to help the No. 14 Hoosiers surpass Illinois.
Jackson-Davis finished with 26 points, 12 rebounds, five blocks and added yet another milestone to his expansive list, while Jalen Hood-Schifino made the go-ahead free throws with 30.7 seconds left to finally give Indiana the lead and a 71-68 victory.
“It’s an accomplishment,” Jackson-Davis said. “I’m just glad we found a way to get that one. They were without one of their best players and those dudes showed a lot of heart.”
Jackson-Davis and the Hoosiers (19-8, 10-6 Big Ten) have won nine of 11 and 15 in a row on their home court. And thanks to the last of Hood-Schifino’s 13 points and Jackson-Davis’ final basket — a breakaway dunk in the waning seconds — Indiana had just enough to erase a nine-point deficit over the final 12½ minutes.
Illinois guard Jayden Epps could have tied it with 16.7 seconds left but missed the first of two free throws. RJ Melendez could have forced overtime with a 3-pointer at the buzzer, but the clean look was off the mark.
And while Jackson-Davis could have celebrated after finishing the game with 2,081 points — 20 more than Hoosiers coach Mike Woodson scored during his college career.
Matthew Mayer and the Fighting Illini (17-9, 8-7) certainly had other plans — even with their top scorer, Terrence Shannon, in the concussion protocol. Mayer scored 16 of his 24 points in the first half.