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Zeller, Hoosiers making case

Indiana’s Cody Zeller (40) dunks the ball as an Illinois defender watches during the second half of the Hoosiers’ 80-64 victory over the Fighting Illini on Friday in the quarterfi nals of the Big Ten tournament at the United Center in Chicago.
Indiana’s Cody Zeller (40) dunks the ball as an Illinois defender watches during the second half of the Hoosiers’ 80-64 victory over the Fighting Illini on Friday in the quarterfi nals of the Big Ten tournament at the United Center in Chicago.

CHICAGO - No matter what happens the rest of the way, Indiana Coach Tom Crean believes his team deserves a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

He probably won’t have to lobby hard if the Hoosiers keep this up.

Cody Zeller scored 24 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead No. 3 Indiana past Illinois 80-64 Friday in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals.

The top-seeded Hoosiers (27-5) are off to a good start after claiming their first outright conference title in two decades and earning a first round bye.

They took control midway through the first half and withstood a mild push in the second, avenging a two-point loss at Illinois (22-12) last month. That set up a match up with Wisconsin in today’s semifinals.

Win or lose, though, Crean said his team should get a No. 1 seed come Sunday.

“I would think - I would hope - we’ve done enough,” he said. “I think when you have the league the way that it is and you win it outright the way that we did … I think one of the bigger things is the way that we played on the road, and the only home losses that Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State have are to us. I think that says a lot because those are also three teams that can win a national championship and have been considered that way most of the year.”

Ohio State actually lost at home to Kansas in December. Even so, Crean’s bigger point holds.

The one-point victory at Michigan on Sunday gave the Hoosiers the conference championship, and just as he did in that one, Zeller came up big in this game. He was 9 of 11 from the field and hit all six free throws after scoring a season-high 25 against the Wolverines.

“They were double teaming so I was trying to find the open man,” he said. “But even if I don’t score it, it opens up a lot of things for our shooters on the outside. I thought we did a nice job of that and it opened up a lot.”

Victor Oladipo added 12 points and 11 rebounds and drew the loudest cheers with a 360-degree fast-break dunk with 90 seconds left. The Big Ten’s Defensive Player of the Year, he also helped contain Brandon Paul.

Christian Watford scored 15, and the Hoosiers shot 54 percent overall even though they were just 5 of 17 on 3-pointers.

In other games, Dez Wells scored a career-high 30 points and Maryland (22-11) upset No. 2 Duke (27-5), winning 83-74 in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament in Greensboro, N.C. … Brandon Triche scored the go-ahead basket early in overtime and No. 19 Syracuse (26-8) advanced to the Big East championship game in New York with a 58-55 victory over No. 5 Georgetown (25-6). … Ben Brust scored 11 of his 14 points in the second half and No. 22 Wisconsin (22-10) knocked off No. 6 Michigan (26-7),winning 68-59 in the Big Ten Tournament in Chicago. … Perry Ellis scored a career-high 23 points, and seventh-ranked Kansas (28-5) pulled away in the second half to beat Iowa State (22-11), winning 88-73 to reach the Big 12 Tournament title game in Kansas City, Mo. … Shane Larkin scored 20 points and No. 9 Miami (25-6) pulled away to beat Boston College (16-17), winning 69-58 in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament. … DeShaun Thomas and Sam Thompson had 19 points each, helping No. 10 Ohio State (24-7) rout Nebraska (15-18), winning 71-50 in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals. … Dwayne Evans played through foul trouble to score 25 points, and No. 16 Saint Louis pulled away early to beat Charlotte (21-11), winning 72-55 in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 Tournament in New York…. Chris Crawford scored a career-high 30 points, making a career-high eight three-pointers and No. 20 Memphis (29-4) reached the Conference USA championship game with an 85-74 victory over host Tulsa (17-15). … Treveon Graham scored 17 points, and No. 25 Virginia Commonwealth (25-7) beat Saint Joseph’s (18-13), winning 82-79 in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 Tournament. … Adreian Payne had 18 points and 10 rebounds, leading No. 8 Michigan State (25-7) to a 59-56 victory over Iowa (21-12) in the Big Ten quarterfinals. … Tony Snell scored 17, hitting five three-pointers, to lead No. 15 New Mexico (28-5) to a 60-50 victory over San Diego State in the semifinal round of the Mountain West Conference Tournament in Las Vegas. … Jordan Adams scored 18 of his 24 points in the second half and No. 21 UCLA (25-8) beat No. 18 Arizona (25-7) for the third time this season, a 66-64 victory that sends the Bruins to the Pacific-12 Tournament championship game in Las Vegas.

Sports, Pages 22 on 03/16/2013

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