Illinois fighting Illini

Current record: 16-7 (5-5)
Current RPI: 41 (IU is #16)
Current Sagarin: 44 (IU is #9)
Current Pomeroy: 41 (IU is #9)
2010-11 record: 20-14/9-9 (lost to Kansas in NCAA Tournament Round of 32)
2010-11 RPI: 48
2010-11 Sagarin: 25
2010-11 Pomeroy: 18
Series: tied at 83
Last IU win: 1/27/2011 (52-49 in Bloomington)
Last Illinois win: 3/5/2011 (72-48 in Champaign)
Last Illinois win in Bloomington: 1/9/2010 (66-60)
Pomeroy scouting report
TV: 8 p.m., Big Ten Network
Blog: Hail to the Orange

IU and Illinois have similar records, but the two programs' seasons, and the programs themselves, give the impression of moving in opposite directions. Illinois, like IU, started the season strong, losing only to UNLV and Missouri in the non-conference and giving Missouri a run for its money. Like IU, the Illini are .500 in the Big Ten, but while IU finishes with 4 of its final 6 Big Ten games at home, the Illini hit the road for five of their final eight on the road, including trips to Michigan, Ohio State, and Wisconsin. While IU moved back to .500 with a road win to the Hoosiers' intrastate rival, Illinois lost at home last weekend to intrastate rival Northwestern. The Illini remain in the NCAA Tournament hunt, but need to find a surprise or two.

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Taking a look back at the non-conference schedule towards the end of the season is always an interesting concept. Teams that were expected to be good end up not so good and teams that were expected to be rugs that everyone walks all over turn out to be pretty decent. Today, we’re going to take a glance back at the 12 non-conference victories and see what those teams are doing and how they are meeting expectations. Indiana was criticized for the soft NC schedule, but as you’ll see in a moment it was tougher than you might think.

Stony Brook 16-7 (11-1) : The 30 point victory over Stony Brook to open the season has turned out to be one of the better non-conference games scheduled this season. They are currently the 121^st team in the nation according to Pomeroy, but they’re cleaning up their conference without a problem. They haven’t been able to take down any major conference foes (they only played us and Northwestern) but they’re making pretty easy work of the AEC. Prognosis: Auto-Bid Tourney Team

Chattanooga 9-16 (3-9): There isn’t much to say about the Mocs that their record doesn’t already state. They’re at the bottom of the North division of the Southern Conference and their position is likely not to change. Luckily for Indiana this was an easy drubbing and doesn’t look like a glaring "uh-oh" for the game being close. Not a resume team, the Mocs are going to finish the season ugly. Prognosis: Finishes above only The Citadel in conference.

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Another interesting week, insofar as Ohio State asserting its dominance and Michigan State & Illinois combined to attempt to play the ugliest game in recent history could be classified as interesting. Indiana and Northwestern both notched rare road victories over their in-state rivals, Iowa picked back-to-back wins, and Penn State and Nebraska have cooled off - which is saying something.


The rankings are based on the current standings and results, but the player efficiency rankings are from the games before 2/2. I'll have some personnel thoughts based on the rankings.

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IU has a few days to rest before hosting Illinois on Thursday night. In light of that, a few random thoughts:

• As hoosierdaddynow pointed out in the comments, I can't believe I was remiss in failing to mention Will Sheehey's block of a Lewis Jackson layup attempt. What can I say, I was writing my recap surrounded by screaming kids. It was, without a doubt, the crucial play of the game. Purdue had pulled to within four with about 2 minutes to play, but Sheehey's out-of-nowhere block prevented the game from getting very dicey. From that point forward, IU scored the final 13 points of the game.
• What do we make of the Tom Crean/Matt Painter issues at the end? I got the sense, based on nothing more than watching the game, that Crean wasn't happy that Purdue kept fouling so late, and that Painter wasn't happy about the late timeout that Crean called, with 13 seconds remaining, to get a couple of walk-ons onto the court. Were they yelling at each other on the sideline? I really couldn't tell, but it looked possible. Crean gave Painter the blow-by handshake when Painter seemed to be trying to say something to him. On the other hand, they seem to have resolved the issue pretty well. I don't believe Painter commented on it after the game, and Crean said he had talked about it with Painter in the hallway. Frankly, particularly given recruiting issues, it's unlikely that the coaches at Indiana and Purdue can be good friends. Crean's lively demeanor does tend to rub people the wrong way, which is fine with me, and Painter hasn't done himself any favors over the years with complaining about the on-court demeanor of opposing players publicly (Michigan State's Branden Dawson most recently; Earl Calloway of IU a few years ago). Of course, it was noted in ESPN's hit piece on IU and the A-HOPE organization that Crean suspected Purdue of shoveling dirt, and I imagine we've all heard the rumors of Painter berating kids who have spurned him for other schools. Perhaps it's a step forward for Painter that if he was unhappy, he kept it to himself rather than ranting in the press conference. He is a protege of both Gene Keady and Bruce Weber, so it's really a miracle that he doesn't suck on a pacifier on the sideline.

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Last Saturday’s IU Recruit Classic in Indianapolis turned out to be a pretty special occasion and fantastic coincidence for the IU faithful and Ron "Buss" Patterson. Patterson, the #142 rated recruit in his class by ESPN, was able to accomplish something that not many recruits can do. He broke the school scoring record set by an NBA veteran. Jeff Robinson held the points record from 1981 to present. A record that withstood the barrage of current Pacer, George Hill in the early aughts, has finally fallen to the IU recruit. So with this record broken, let’s take a look at what he brings to the table in the college game.

Buss Patterson is, in my opinion, incredibly underrated. The kid is still pretty raw as he has only been playing basketball for a few years. He only gained true interest in the sport in high school, but he’s a natural at it. Still incredibly unpolished he does a very good job of using his college sized body to average 20 points a game. Much like Victor Oladipo and Will Sheehey of two years ago he has all the tools to get the job done at the next level, but doesn’t quite have the skills yet.

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Wow. That felt pretty good, didn't it? Playing without starting point guard Verdell Jones III and in an arena where IU had won only 11 times previously, the Hoosiers asserted themselves for the entire game and won 78-61. The final score doesn't truly reflect the reality that the game could have gone either way until the final couple of minutes, but as it stands, this was IU's most lopsided win at Mackey since 1984 and Purdue's most lopsided home loss since a loss to Ohio State in 2007. It also was Tom Crean's first win over the Boilermakers after an 0-5 start, and IU's first Big Ten road win against anyone other than Penn State since 2008. I have said before that I thought the "road struggles" meme was overplayed, and this may not even have been the best of IU's four road wins this season (NC State is now 17-7 and 6-3 in the ACC). But it's been a constant source of discussion, and a comfortable win at Purdue is about the best way imaginable to put that issue to rest.

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