Comparing Illinois’ last visit to Bloomington, Ind., with the one the Illini will be making Sunday in their Big Ten Conference opener against Bob Knight and his Indiana Hoosiers is like comparing the movie “Armageddon” with “The Horse Whisperer.”
“Yeah, this one might be a little calmer,” Illinois junior guard Cleotis Brown said with a laugh. And Brown wasn’t even there last year. But, like everyone else, he heard about it and has seen it on tape.
“It was pretty wild last year,” said sophomore guard Sergio McClain, who ought to know because he’s the guy . . .
– Who was called for basket interference when he hung on the rim after trying to block Luke Recker’s layup attempt with 9:37 left.
– Who initiated the action that led to Recker winding up on the floor and Knight walking onto the court to check on Recker and referee Ted Valentine and Knight getting into it.
– Who quietly stood by as Valentine hit Knight with his second technical and then ejected him. Knight responded by drawing a third technical before stalking out to the roar of the Assembly Hall crowd.
Yeah, Sunday’s game will be different all right. Last year, Illinois’ all-senior starting lineup defeated the Hoosiers 82-72 in the regular-season finale, and it was huge. Coupled with Michigan State’s 99-96 overtime loss to Purdue a few days later, it earned the Illini a share of the school’s first Big Ten title since 1984.
This season, the volume will be turned down about 10 notches. This season, a young Illinois squad that often starts two freshmen and two sophomores is just hoping to get off on the right foot in a historically hostile arena.
Should Indiana (13-3) need more motivation, it doesn’t have to look far to find it: The Hoosiers are coming off an embarrassing 67-52 loss at Iowa on New Year’s Eve, and they’re also aware of one more thing: Knight’s 0-3 record against Illinois coach Lon Kruger.
“They have something to prove to us,” McClain said.
But Illinois has a lot to prove to itself. After road losses to Kansas and Missouri, Tuesday’s 67-50 upset of No. 14 Clemson in Greenville, S.C., was a timely psychological lift. It improved the team’s record to 8-4, matching the mark last season’s squad took into Big Ten play.
Kruger, though, still has concerns aplenty; from his point guard woes (McClain and freshman Cory Bradford shared the duties against Clemson) to brutal ballhandling (the Illini average nearly 20 turnovers per game) to scary outside shooting (Arias Davis’ 20 off the bench vs. Clemson was the exception) to Brown’s sore foot (it’s still sore after preseason surgery) to Victor Chukwudebe’s recent back spasms (he’s iffy for Sunday) to the worrisome shortage of vocal leadership on the team.
“It was good to beat a ranked team on the road,” Kruger said. “We’d lost back-to-back, and there was still a tough stretch ahead. A win really picked the players’ spirits up, and they’ve responded in practice as well.”
Kruger’s assessment as the league season begins?
“You’d always like to be further along, regardless of where you are,” he said. “But this group has sort of survived, if you will. So far, it hasn’t buried us.”
If that doesn’t sound like a ringing endorsement, it’s not supposed to. Indiana awaits.
