BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – For just over 36 minutes and 30 seconds on Saturday, the Illinois basketball team appeared poised to hand Indiana its first home loss of the season.

In that time, it had withstood the raucous Assembly Hall environment of 17,316 Hoosier faithful, had found a solution to Shaun Pruitt’s foul trouble and had even responded to Indiana’s upped second-half intensity.

But in the final 3:37 of play, the Illini, who failed to make good on their last six possessions, also turned the ball over four times during that stretch. The result was a 65-61 loss to a Hoosier team that had not played since an 85-71 loss at Iowa on Feb. 3.

While a road win against Indiana (17-6, 7-3) would have improved Illinois’ chances of locking up an NCAA tournament bid, Indiana head coach Kelvin Sampson, said Bruce Weber’s bunch is still in the mix.

“Today was a game that we found a way to win, but Illinois could have won this game,” Sampson said. “We were fortunate to win it, but I know this: There’s not 64 teams better than Illinois.”

With the Hoosiers’ impressive record at home, Weber stressed to the Illini (18-9, 6-6) the importance of not “backing down.”

“It’s disappointing. The whole last stretch was disappointing,” Weber said. “But I’m really proud of the kids that we made progress from the Purdue game, from the second half at Michigan State. We played our butts off … and I think our kids kept fighting.”

The pivotal play in the game proved to be an Armon Bassett lay up that gave Indiana a 62-61 edge with 44 seconds remaining. It was the only basket scored by either team in the final 3:37. Still clinging to a chance to recover, Illinois called a 30-second timeout, but a wide-open Rich McBride three-point attempt came up short.

“Even when Rich had that shot in the corner, that’s a great shot for us,” senior Warren Carter said. “We’ll take that shot any possession down the court that we can get, and the shot just didn’t go in.”

Nineteen seconds remained after Indiana’s A.J. Ratliff was fouled and made one-of-two from the line to put the Hoosiers up 63-61. The Illini called another timeout, and again, a play was scripted for McBride, who finished with 13 points (all in the first half). But with the Illinois offense in disarray, Shaun Pruitt (three points, three rebounds) was called for a five-second violation.

The Hoosiers were led by Roderick Wilmont (17 points) and Bassett (15 points), while Carter led the Illini with 14 points (5-of-9 shooting). Senior Marcus Arnold poured in 12 points (6-of-6 from the free-throw line) in the best showing of his Illinois career. Weber called Arnold the “special player to do something unordinary” to give the Illini a chance on the road.

“He definitely shouldn’t have his head down; I know he’s going to be hurting just because we lost, but if we can get him to play like that the rest of the season it gives our team such an extra boost,” Carter said.

After facing a number of teams fresh off a bye week, the Illini will take a week off from game action until playing host to Northwestern on Sunday. The added rest and time spent at the Ubben practice facility will be beneficial for a team that is anticipating finally being able to find a balance and establish roles.

At Indiana, Illinois wore T-shirts with the words “No egos” printed on the backs along with a giant “21,” in reference to Weber’s challenge for the Illini to win 21 games. To do that, they must take their next two home games, plus win one of two road games against Penn State and Iowa.

“We can take the momentum into the next home games that we’ve got, and we play Northwestern and Michigan, two very good teams,” McBride said. “They love to execute their system, so we’ve just got to come in ready to play.”