BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Illinois head coach Bruce Weber was not asking for a narrow victory in Sunday’s 65-52 win against Indiana. He nearly got one, though, and in the postgame press conference, he almost sounded like he wanted one.

“I told them I didn’t care if we won by one or two,” Weber said. “A win’s a win.”

Mike Davis and Mike Tisdale were forces inside for the Illini (21-5, 9-4 Big Ten) against the struggling Hoosiers (6-18, 1-11). The duo finished with 16 points apiece on a combined 15-of-24 shooting, and Davis led the team with 10 rebounds.

Both players had three blocks, part of a team-total 10.

“We were getting a lot of high-low action,” Davis said. “I was looking for (Tisdale), he was looking for me. We were both pretty hot – he was hitting his hooks and I had my mid-range jumpers inside. We just got some easy buckets.”

After entering halftime with a comfortable 17-point lead, it seemed the game was all but over. But in the second half, Weber said his team wandered away from the basics and started losing ground. Mike Tisdale shot a quick three, Demetri McCamey was running ragged on fast breaks and No. 22 Illinois started to crumble.

Indiana’s Mike Roth, who had 13 points and shot 3-of-6 from long range, scored seven straight points to help Indiana get back to within 14. Shortly thereafter, the Hoosiers went on a 10-2 run that cut the lead to six.

“We were going for the jugular instead of playing basketball,” Weber said.

Chester Frazier took advantage of Indiana’s defense to quiet the rally. Indiana backed off the senior guard, daring him to shoot, and Frazier hit a wide-open three. After increasing the Illinois lead to nine, two possessions later Frazier added a layup to subdue the Indiana run for good.

“They made it easy on me. No pressure on me,” Frazier said. “I can sit out there and hold the ball, pressure the ball and find my open teammates. I hope they do it again, and I hope another team does it.

“It’s like playing horse, you’re out there by yourself. Coach just told me to be patient and find my teammates.”

The win was the Illini’s third in a row and keeps them in second place in the Big Ten behind No. 9 Michigan State. Illinois was 17-of-27 from the field in the first half (63 percent) while Indiana shot just 6-of-22.

Indiana missed leading scorer Devan Dumes for the second consecutive game after the guard was suspended indefinitely for repeated on-court altercations, including one against Michigan State. Illinois took advantage of his absence early. Tisdale and Davis scored the Illini’s first 10 points of the night, dominating both sides of the floor. Davis alone had 10 points, four assists, three rebounds and two blocks in the first half.

“I thought (Illinois) has been ranked too low in the sense that they’re not getting the respect nationally that they deserve,” Indiana head coach Tom Crean said. “I love Davis, he plays with an edge and that’s what you need.

“Tisdale plays with an edge, and I think they’ve done a great job developing that.”

Illinois forward Dominique Keller had six points in the game, including two on an early alley-oop from McCamey that helped build a 15-7 lead. Speaking for the team after the game, Keller said Illinois is gunning for a first-place finish in the Big Ten with every win.

“It’s on our minds every game,” Keller said. “We feel like if we really want a chance to compete for it we got to win out. We’re taking it one game at a time and we’re going for it like it’s the Big Ten Championship every game, because it is.

“Who knows what can happen.”