Illinois had something it wanted to prove Tuesday night.
Uh, consider it proved.
Ever since mid-January, the Illini have been trying to show the world they’re a much better team than their 1-3 start in the Big Ten race seemed to indicate.
Tuesday, they showed No. 16 Indiana their whole bag of tricks on the way to a ridiculously easy 87-63 victory that ran their winning streak to seven. It was their ninth win in the past 10 outings and improved their record to 18-7, 10-4 before a capacity (16,450) crowd at the Assembly Hall.
Illinois dominated at both ends of the court, but it was the 26-point performance of sophomore guard Cory Bradford, who had five of his team’s 13 three-pointers (in 27 attempts) that really destroyed the Hoosiers (18-6, 6-5).
Illinois led by as many as 32 points in the second half en route its largest winning margin over Indiana since 1956 (96-72 in Bloomington).
Next up: Ohio State (18-5, 9-3) on Sunday in Columbus.
For the Illini, trying to convince people, including themselves, that they deserve to be included among the nation’s elite teams has been an uphill battle.
Spurred on by the ear-shattering roars of their fans, Illinois opened the game with NCAA tournament intensity and caught the Hoosiers flat-footed.
Swarming all over Indiana on the defensive end and shooting from long distance better than it has in a very long time, Illinois assumed command early.
After a Kirk Haston bucket moved the Hoosiers to 10-8 the Illini went on a 14-2 run.
Then, after another Haston basket that made it 24-12, Illinois surged again, scoring 13 of the next 15 points for a stunning 37-14 advantage.
Indiana hurt itself with 13 turnovers but it was Illinois’ seven steals and its uncanny three-point accuracy that were the keys to its 24-point (52-28) halftime bulge.
Bradford had 17 points at the half that included four three-pointers. The Illini sank six of their first 10 three-point attempts and were 7 of 13 in the first 20 minutes.
Defensively, Frank Williams did a nice job on Indiana star A.J. Guyton, holding him to one three-point basket all night.
Haston was tops for the Hoosiers with eight points at the break.
