CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Tyler Griffey made the easiest and biggest shot of his career.
The senior forward took an inbounds pass and made a wide-open layup with 0.9 seconds to play to give Illinois a 74-72 victory over No. 1 Indiana on Thursday night, the fifth consecutive week the nation’s top-ranked team lost.
Hoosiers Coach Tom Crean, whose team has been No. 1 for a total of seven weeks this season, doesn’t have a reason for the recent weekly changes on top of the poll.
“I can’t answer that. I’m not sure,” Crean said. “I just know that these games are 40-minute games. We played at a high level for most of the game.”
The Hoosiers were in charge until the final 3 1/2 minutes when the Illini (16-8, 3-7Big Ten) finally put together a run to take and then retake the lead.
“I know this, when we turn the ball over we’re not very good,” Crean said. “And the biggest difference tonight was 28 points off turnovers to our 16.”
And nothing could have been worse for the Hoosiers (20-3, 8-2) than the way the game ended.
With 0.9 seconds left Griffey left defenders Cody Zeller and Christian Watford behind on an inbounds play from the baseline, took the pass from Brandon Paul and delivered the uncontested buzzer-beater for the Illini.
The shot sent hundreds of students onto the court - holding their collective breath as officials checked the replay to make sure the clock hadn’t beaten Griffey - and Paul and fellow guard D.J. Richardson hugged and teared up with relief.
Illinois had lost eight of 11 since starting the season 12-0. The Illini had been ranked as high as No. 10 and were now falling to the bottom of the Big Ten.
Griffey, accustomed to struggling in recent weeks, seemed surprised with the ease he was able to make the game-winner.
“I just made a simple curl cut and left two guys behind me, and Brandon got off a heck of a pass,” he said. “Zeller and Watford were both right in front of me and just kind of stayed there.”
Richardson had 23 points for Illinois, Paul had 21 and Griffey finished with 14 points and eight rebounds.
Zeller led Indiana with 14 points, while Will Sheehey had 13, Watford 12 and Jordan Hulls 11.
Crean, whose team just moved into the No. 1 spot after knocking off then-No. 1 Michigan on Saturday, said the play was a lot like the other breakdowns in the Hoosiers’ game that let Illinois climb back from a 12-point halftime deficit.
“We didn’t communicate,” Crean said.
“They’re very deserving of the win, they never gave in,” he added, but he qualified that with, “We didn’t put them away when we had the opportunities.”
Indiana’s loss drops them into a three-way tie for first in the Big Ten with Michigan and Michigan State. For the Illini, the victory means a move out of 10th in the 12-team conference up into a ninth-place tie with Iowa.
“It was good to get back to having that toughness and togetherness and trust that we needed,” Illinois Coach John Groce said.
NO. 4 DUKE 98, N.C. STATE 85
DURHAM, N.C. - Mason Plumlee scored 30 points and No. 4 Duke held on to beat North Carolina State.
Seth Curry added 26 points and Quinn Cook had 21 for the Blue Devils (20-2, 7-2 Atlantic Coast Conference).
Richard Howell had 15 of his 23 points in the second half for the Wolfpack (16-7, 5-5).
TEXAS A&M 70, NO. 21 MISSOURI 68
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Fabyon Harris had 17 points, including the game-winning three-pointer with 12 seconds left, to help Texas A&M beat No. 21 Missouri.
The loss dropped the Tigers (16-6, 5-4 SEC) to 0-5 in true road games. They have won three games at neutral sites this season.
Ray Turner blocked a shot by Keion Bell with two seconds left to secure the victory for the Aggies (14-8, 4-5).
Alex Oriakhi led the Tigers with 15 points.
Sports, Pages 22 on 02/08/2013