It was a game of runs between Illinois and Indiana on Sunday, and the Hoosiers had the last one.

Kendrick Nunn hit a 3-pointer to extend an Illini lead to 72-67 with three minutes remaining, and it looked like Illinois would send a record-breaking crowd of 17,085 home from State Farm Center happy.  

But things unraveled from there for Illinois. Nick Zeisloft hit a three to cut the Illini lead to two. Nnanna Egwu fouled out, then Leron Black missed a layup. And Troy Williams gave Indiana the advantage for good with an acrobatic tip-in above the rim, where he killed the Illini all day long. The Hoosiers ended the game with a 13-2 run, and won it, 80-74.

The game was wildly entertaining from the opening tip. Nunn gave Illinois (12-7, 2-4 Big Ten) an early 9-0 lead with three consecutive threes and didn’t cool off, leading all scorers with 24 points. Indiana quickly stormed back, and the whiplash-inducing play was just getting started.

Just look at these crazy swings: Indiana (14-4, 4-1) went on a 29-9 run in the first half, but the Illini clawed back and trailed at half, 38-34. Indiana then opened up a 50-40 lead, only for Illinois to storm back again with a 21-2 run of its own. The Illini led 61-52, but peaked too early — the Hoosiers had one final push left.

Indiana is too explosive offensively to be kept down for long, with too many weapons on the perimeter. Freshman James Blackmon, Jr. had 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting, and Zeisloft hit three huge threes. But Williams was Indiana’s most valuable player Sunday. He scored 21 points on 8-of-10 shooting, absolutely dominated Illinois around the rim, and his late tip-in was a fitting end to a game-changing performance.

Nunn, fellow sophomore Malcolm Hill and senior Ahmad Starks kept Illinois in the game with their scoring. Starks had his best game as an Illini, scoring 19 points, 15 of which came on threes. Hill scored 10 of his 12 points in the second half. And Illini head coach John Groce got a big lift from the freshman Black, who recorded eight points and nine rebounds off the bench.

However, Black’s production was offset by a very quiet game from center Nnanna Egwu, who went scoreless and fouled out in 27 minutes. Aaron Cosby followed up his 19-point outburst at Northwestern with a scoreless performance against the Hoosiers, going 0-5 from distance.

And after Nunn’s final three-pointer, the entire team just didn’t execute down the stretch, which Groce called “disappointing” after the game.

Ultimately, this one felt like an unfortunate microcosm of Illinois’ season. Groce entered his third year with NCAA tournament expectations, but late game collapses and injuries have prevented this Illini team from reaching its potential. There have been multiple speed bumps along the way, and things just haven’t truly clicked for Illinois despite sporadic bursts of momentum.

We saw a similar pattern against the Hoosiers Sunday, condensed into one game. Fans were excited, the place was sold out, and the excitement level in Champaign made it hard to imagine anything but a positive outcome for Illinois.

The crowd provided the hype and the Illini provided the offense, but just couldn’t close the deal. Similar to the games against Oregon and Michigan, fans were left scratching their heads and wondering what could have been.  

During the game’s final minutes, you just got the sense that Illinois’ NCAA tournament hopes were hanging in the balance. Such high-pressure situations are where successful seasons are forged, where tournament privileges are earned. Instead, Indiana solidified its tournament resume, while the Illini’s postseason prospects grew bleaker.

There’s still a lot of season left, and the Illini do look like they’re improving, despite missing senior Rayvonte Rice due to injury. But the reality is that seven losses at this juncture is tough for any team to overcome, especially one missing its star player.

If the Illini do indeed fall short of the NCAA tournament for the second time in three years, the Indiana game will be one of several you can point to as one they just couldn’t afford to lose.

Alex is a junior in AHS. He can be reached at [email protected] and @aroux94.