Illinois Fighting Illini upset Indiana Hoosiers
by Terry Hutchens, USA TODAY Sports
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – It will be remembered as the big one that got away.
Tyler Griffey got loose on an out of bounds play under the Indiana basket with 0.9 seconds to play and scored at the buzzer Thursday night to lift Illinois to a stunning 74-72 victory over No. 1 IU at the other Assembly Hall.
Indiana (20-3, 8-2 Big Ten) led 70-62 with 3:36 to play before D.J. Richardson hit back-to-back 3-pointers to cut the lead to two.
Richardson then hit a 17 foot jumper from the left wing to tie it at 70 with 1:17 to play.
Victor Oladipo scored on a drive to put the Hoosiers back up with 50.5 seconds remaining before Brandon Paul made two free throws with 37.2 seconds.
The Hoosiers then went for one shot but Oladipo turned it over when he tried to dribble behind his back near the top of the key. He seemed to make up for it at the other end when he blocked a shot by Richardson into the crowd with 0.9 seconds to play.
But on the inbounds somehow Griffey slipped free and had a wide open lane to the basket for the shot at the buzzer. The fans stormed the court and the officials checked the monitors.
They eventually ruled the basket was good.
Richardson had 23 points and Paul had 21 for Illinois (16-8, 3-7) which snapped a four-game losing streak at home.
Cody Zeller led the Hoosiers with 14 points and nine rebounds. Will Sheehey had 13 points off the bench for IU.
Terry Hutchens writes for the Indianapolis Star, a Gannett property.
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