It was a very big night for Illinois at the Big Ten tournament Friday.
That’s big as in big men.
Warren Carter scored 17 points and grabbed seven rebounds and Shaun Pruitt added 16 points and 12 rebounds as Illinois defeated Indiana 58-54 in overtime in the quarterfinals at the United Center.
And so the Illini (23-10) advance to Saturday’s 3 p.m. semifinal against Wisconsin (28-4), which eliminated Michigan State in Friday night’s other quarterfinal. Indiana fell to 20-10.
In overtime, Illinois scored first, taking a 51-50 lead when Pruitt made the second of two free throws.
Then with 2 minutes to play, Pruitt scored on his third attempt at a putback to make it 53-50 leading into an Indiana timeout with 1:53 left.
After Pruitt picked off an offensive rebound, Rich McBride made one free throw for a 54-50 lead with 33.2 seconds left. Indiana then missed two free throws on its next possession, and Carter made one of two free throws to make it 55-50.
After Indiana’s A.J. Ratliff scored to make it 55-52 with 8.9 seconds left, Ratliff fouled Trent Meacham with 8.3 seconds left. Meacham made the second of two shots to make it 56-52. Earl Calloway drove for a layup to make it 56-54 and Indiana called timeout with 3.2 seconds left.
Meacham then made two free throws with 2 seconds left to account for the final score.
With a berth in the tournament semifinals in hand, the Illini seem assured of their eighth straight NCAA tournament berth even if they don’t win the conference tournament. They finished 9-7 in the Big Ten, and since the NCAA field was expanded to 64 teams in 1985, no Big Ten team with a winning conference record and more than 20 victories has been passed over.
The triumph was the Illini’s 18th straight at the United Center, their unofficial home away from home. They have not lost on the West Side since falling to Indiana in the semifinals of the Big Ten tournament on March 10, 2001. They won the conference tournament in Chicago in 2003 and 2005.
Illinois met Wisconsin once in the regular season, the then-No. 2 ranked Badgers winning 71-64 in Champaign on Jan. 20.
Illinois and Indiana went into overtime after Armon Bassett’s jumper missed at the second-half buzzer.
With 3:49 to play, the Illini’s Chester Frazier apparently drilled a three-pointer to pull Illinois within 46-45. Officials initially waved off the basket because Pruitt had been fouled, but during a timeout changed their minds.
Then Pruitt stepped to the free-throw line for two shots because of the double bonus. He airballed the first one but made the second to tie the game 46-46.
The Illini relied on big men Pruitt and Carter as the starting backcourt of Brian McBride and Frazier struggled. Neither scored until Frazier drilled a three-pointer with 9:32 left, giving Illinois a 39-35 lead.
The Illini got off to a fast start, hitting their first three shots and taking a 6-0 lead on Pruitt’s layup off a feed from Frazier, prompting Indiana coach Kelvin Sampson to use a timeout just 1:30 into the game.
The Illini went cold then, missing their next five shots, and Indiana took an 8-6 lead on Roderick Wilmont’s three-point shot. The Illini wound up shooting only 35.7 in the first half (10 of 28) as Frazier and McBride were shut out.
Foul trouble started to creep up for both teams. Indiana forward Mike White picked up his third foul with 11:50 left in the half.
But Illinois suffered a bigger loss at the 8:13 mark when Pruitt was whistled for his second after trying to follow his own miss. He was replaced by Marcus Arnold. Pruitt returned with 6:15 left in the half and Indiana leading 20-14.
Pruitt ended an Illinois scoring drought of 5:51 when he scored to cut Indiana’s lead to 22-16 with 4:58 left in the half. A Bassett jumper made it 24-16, matching Indiana’s biggest lead of the half.
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tabannon@tribune.com
