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Indiana pulls away from Illinois

Feb 10, 2012 - 5:14 AM Bloomington, IN (Sports Network) - Cody Zeller dropped a game-high 22 points to lead four Hoosiers in double figures as No. 23 Indiana rolled past Illinois, 84-71, at Assembly Hall on Thursday.

Christian Watford, Victor Oladipo, and Jordan Hulls each posted double-digit scoring numbers for Indiana (19-6, 7-6 Big Ten), with 18, 18 and 15, respectively. Watford and Oladipo each brought down five rebounds.

"What we did was get back to what the gameplan was supposed to be...and our guys responded," Indiana head coach Tom Crean said.

D.J. Richardson paced Illinois (16-8, 5-6) with 19 points, including five three pointers. Leonard Myers added 17 prior to fouling out with 3:09 to play, while Brandon Paul contributed 13 points and five assists before he fouled out with 36.3 ticks remaining.

Illinois cut Indiana's lead to three, 62-59, with 9:14 remaining, but the Hoosiers scored 11 of the next 13 points to put the game out of reach.

"They made a little run, that's where Hulls came back and hit a big one and they got it to Zeller and they got some fouls," Illinois head coach Bruce Weber said.

The Hoosiers shot only 40.9 percent (9-22) from the field but knocked down 16- of-16 free throws and scored nine points off turnovers to lead 38-36 at halftime.

Game Notes

The Illini played its first of four remaining road games against ranked opponents. Including Thursday's game, they have lost their last six road games against ranked teams.