With 4:52 left in the game, Illinois' only true big man fouled out of the game with Indiana holding the lead. From that point on Cody Zeller never attempted a shot and barely handled it. Follow the trail of bad decisions. At 3:36 left, CWat inexplicably fouled Brandon Paul with Illinois about to run out of time getting it inbound allowing them to score with zero time coming off the clock. At 3:24 IU still held an 8 point lead when CWat took and missed a 3 pointer after taking only 8 seconds off of the shot clock (what's the hurry?). Luckily Zeller rebounded it and got it to our Senior Point Guard Jordy Hulls. Did he reset the offense and take another 20 or 30 seconds off the clock, ugh, no, instead he took a running floater after only 2 seconds elapsed (umm what IS THE HURRY!!). Watford got the rebound briefly but lost it to the Illini. On the next possession. CWat drove to the basket after taking only 18 seconds off the shot clock and somehow managed to get his shot blocked. Next possession Sheehey took and missed a 3 after only taking 16 seconds off the shot clock. Victor had the only bright spot when IU actually took 27 seconds off the clock before he scored. Unfortunately the next time he touched the ball he "decided" to attempt to dribble behind his back instead of simply rising up to get off a jump shot. What could have happened? a) he might have hit the shot and we likely win b) he might have been fouled and hit a FT or two and we likely win c) he might have missed the shot and we get the rebound either making a last second shot or missing it and teh game going to overtime. But instead he lost the ball and amazingly blocked the go ahead shot. With 0.9 seconds chances were good that Illinois would miss and the game would go to OT. But the final blow was that we fell asleep on D allowing an easy lay-up to loose. What one thing could have won us this game - answer - anything. What if Jordy Hulls took that pass from Zeller and reset the offense and took 20 more seconds off the clock before say getting a good shot or drawing a foul? - answer - probably ends in a win. What if Victor takes a shot with 4 seconds to go? - answer - we either win or go to OT. The last time i remember seeing a team choke away a lead like that was when Syracuse lost to IU in the 1987 NCAA Championship (hey that memory helps a little). My suggestion to the IU players is to think about how one good decision would have won that game. To the coaching staff I implore them to design a few plays that result in the ball getting into the hands of your 7 foot tall multi-talented player that had no legitimate defender left in the game for almost a full 5 minutes. I never played at a level higher than pick up games but if I was in that situation my first, second and third option would be to pass the ball to Zeller in the post. For now I will remind myself that 2 years ago we would have been down 12 at half and it would have been an 18 point loss. I need a drink!