The Illinois men’s basketball experienced a bit of deja vu on Thursday night, and it wasn’t pleasant.

For the second straight game, Illinois squandered a first-half lead and fell to Big Ten rival Indiana 74-47.

The Illini were thoroughly outplayed in the second half. The Hoosiers broke off an 18-5 run to start the half and would not look back on their way to another blowout of Illinois. Indiana outscored Illinois 47-19 in the second half.

“i didn’t know they could have played any better than the first time we played them, but the second half was pretty close,” head coach John Groce said.

Plenty of Hoosier fans made their way to State Farm Center, where Indiana has now taken back-to-back meetings — Illinois had won five straight home games against Indiana prior to last season.

Indiana’s gameplan was simple and obvious: stop Malcolm Hill. And stop him they did. The junior captain didn’t net his first basket until the seven-minute mark in the second half and was held to five points on 2-of-7 shooting — it was Hill’s lowest scoring output of the year. He was suffocated by relentless Indiana double-teams and didn’t even attempt a shot until the final minutes of the opening half.

Groce wasn’t happy with how Hill and the other upperclassmen led the rest of the team, especially this deep into the season.

“My biggest thing with (Hill) and the upperclassmen is to connect our guys, to communicate” Groce said. “The biggest thing right now is getting those guys to understand responsibility and accountability. It’s February.”

While the upperclassmen struggled, Jalen Coleman-Lands showed glimpses of the future and led the Illini with 21 points — he was 5-of-9 from beyond the arc. The freshman was the only Illini to score in double digits and the rest of the team combined for a woeful 1-of-13 from 3-point range.

Coleman-Lands also led the Illini with two assists — the team combined for six.

After a 5-of-7 shooting start to the game, Illinois missed its next six shots and its offense went nowhere but downhill from there — and Indiana only got hotter. The Hoosiers missed a handful of open shots to start the game, but made 10-of-17 3-pointers in the second stanza, during which they shot nearly 60 percent from the floor overall.

“When you give a high motor team like that open looks, that’s a recipe for disaster,” Coleman-Lands said. “We needed to figure out a way to nip it in the bud as soon as possible.”

Senior Yogi Ferrell took over in the second half. After a 4-of-9 shooting start, the prolific point guard drained 5-of-6 shots from deep and made his way into the paint with ease possession after possession. He finished with 27 points, five assists and five rebounds.

Groce couldn’t keep Ferrell’s name out of his mouth following the game.

“Ferrell took the game over and not just from a scoring perspective,” Groce said. “You’re standing courtside and you just hear his voice constantly.

“He’s into the game whether he makes a shot or not…that’s what leadership looks like.”

Behind Coleman-Lands’ eight points and two early deep balls, Illinois jumped out to a 14-4 lead to start the game. Once the Illini’s shots stopped falling, Indiana quickly responded with a 14-2 run of their own. The two teams traded punches until Coleman-Lands drained his third long ball of the half to give Illinois a 29-28 lead heading into the locker room.

After outrebounding each of its last three opponents, Illinois lost the battle of the boards 37-17 and allowed double-digit offense rebounds for the seventh time this season.

Illinois will try to avoid disappointing its home fans in the last game at State Farm Center on Sunday evening.

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@joeyfigueroa3