March 10, 2007

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Game Seven • March 9, 2007 • United Center • Chicago, Ill.
#3 Indiana 54 (20-10) vs. #6 Illinois 58 (23-10) - OT
No. 6 Illinois advances to play No. 2 Wisconsin at 3:05 p.m. CST Saturday

The Illinois-Indiana contest was only the second to head into overtime in Big Ten Tournament (BTT) history. The only other game that went into extra minutes was a 79-73 victory for No. 10 Michigan over No. 7 Purdue in the first round in 1999.

Illinois leads the all time BTT series between the two schools, 5-1, and won two out of the three matchups between the programs during the 2006-07 season. Each team captured a victory against the other at home.

With the victory, Illinois improved its overall season record to 23-10, including wins in nine of its last 12 games. Its all-time BTT record is now 18-7 (.720 winning percentage). The Illini improved their record in quarterfinal round games to 9-1. It's the ninth time in the 10-year history of the BTT that Illinois has advanced to the semifinal round.

Illinois' all-time record at the United Center is 31-6, including victories in its last 18 consecutive games. The Illini are 15-4 all time at the venue in BTT play.

Bruce Weber's all-time BTT record is now 7-2, a BTT best winning percentage of .778.

Each of the last four games between the two schools in BTT play has had margins of four points or less. In the 2000 BTT, the Illini defeated the Hoosiers 72-69, while in 2001, IU came out ahead, 58-56. In 2003, Illinois won, 73-72, and the Illini defeated the Hoosiers in overtime tonight, 58-54.

Warren Carter of Illinois recorded 17 points and seven rebounds in the contest, giving him a two-game BTT total of 36 points and 12 boards.

Shaun Pruitt of Illinois had a double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds against the Hoosiers, giving him a two-game total of 24 points and 22 rebounds.

No. 6 seeds now have a record of 5-3 over No. 3 seeds in BTT action.

Illinois faces No. 2 seeded Wisconsin in tomorrow's second semifinal game. The two teams have met three times in BTT play, including two times in the final round. Wisconsin captured the 2004 tournament over Illinois and the Illini defeated the Badgers in the 2005 title game. The other matchup between the two programs was an Illinois 66-61 victory over Wisconsin in the 1998 quarterfinals.

Indiana went 16-of-20 from the free throw line in the contest for a percentage of 80.0. That is a BTT single game record for the Hoosiers, whose previous BTT high was 79.3 percent (23-of-29), set against Michigan on March 14, 2003.

D.J. White of Indiana scored 14 points and pulled down 13 rebounds for his sixth double-double of the season and eighth of his career. He also has recorded a double-double in both of his BTT games, with a 21 point, 10 rebound performance against Minnesota on March 11, 2005. Those 13 boards were also a career high, eclipsing the 12 that he grabbed against Iowa on Jan. 16, 2007.

In his BTT debut, freshman Armon Bassett of Indiana scored a team-high 18 points. It was his 15th double-figure scoring effort of the season.

IU's Earl Calloway tied his career best with nine rebounds in the contest. All of those boards came on the defensive end of the court.