Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Illinois upsets Indiana Griffey layup with 0.9 seconds to play clinches 74-72 win

Tyler Griffey made the easiest and biggest shot of his career.

The senior forward took an inbounds pass and made a wide-open layup with 0.9 seconds to play to give Illinois a 74-72 victory over visiting No. 1 Indiana on Thursday night, the fifth straight week the nation's top-ranked team lost.

Hoosiers coach Tom Crean, whose team has been No. 1 for a total of seven weeks this season, doesn't have a reason for the recent weekly changes on top of the poll.

"I can't answer that. I'm not sure," Crean said. "I just know that these games are 40-minute games. We played at a high level for most of the game."

The Hoosiers were in charge until the final 3a-x minutes when the Illini (16-8, 3-7 Big Ten) finally put together a run to take and then retake the lead.

"I know this, when we turn the ball over we're not very good," Crean said. "And the biggest difference tonight was 28 points off turnovers to our 16."

And nothing could have been worse for the Hoosiers (20-3, 8-2) than the way the game ended.

With 0.9 seconds left Griffey left defenders Cody Zeller and Christian Watford behind on an inbounds play from the baseline, took the pass from Brandon Paul and delivered the uncontested buzzer-beater for the Illini.

The shot sent hundreds of students onto the court -- holding their collective breath as officials checked the replay to make sure the clock hadn't beaten Griffey -- and Paul and fellow guard D.J. Richardson hugged and teared up with relief.

Illinois had lost eight of 11 since starting the season 12-0. The Illini had been ranked as high as No. 10 and were now falling to the bottom of the Big Ten.

Griffey, accustomed to struggling in recent weeks, seemed surprised with the ease he was able to make the game-winner.

"I just made a simple curl cut and left two guys behind me, and Brandon got off a heck of a pass," he said. "Zeller and Watford were both right in front of me and just kind of stayed there."

Indiana's loss drops them into a three-way tie for first in the Big Ten with Michigan and Michigan State. For the Illini, the win means a move out of 10th in the 12-team conference up into a ninth-place tie with Iowa.

Illinois hadn't beaten a No. 1 team since a 2004 win over Wake Forest. But the Illini had won nine of the last 10 against the Hoosiers in Champaign. And this season, whatever else has gone wrong, Illinois has delivered against the big boys. Coming into Thursday night the Illini had already beaten three teams now in the top 15: No. 6 Gonzaga, No. 10 Ohio State and No. 14 Butler.

Richardson had 23 points for Illinois, Paul had 21 and Griffey finished with 14 points and eight rebounds.

Zeller led Indiana with 14 points, while Will Sheehey had 13, Watford 12 and Jordan Hulls 11.

Indiana shot 50 percent from the field (25 of 50), 52.9 percent from 3-point range (9 of 17) and 93 percent from the free throw line (13 of 14). The Hoosiers led by an 8- to 10-point margin for most of the second half.

Duke 98, N.C. State 85: Mason Plumlee scored 30 points, while Seth Curry added 26 points and Quinn Cook had 21 for the No. 4 Blue Devils (20-2, 7-2).

Richard Howell had 15 of his 23 points in the second half for the Wolfpack (16-7, 5-5), who clawed back in it by making 12 of their first 14 shots of the second half.

Texas A&M 70, Missouri 68: Fabyon Harris had 17 points, including the game-winning 3-pointer with 12 seconds left to topple No. 21 Missouri.

The loss dropped the Tigers to 16-6 overall and 5-4 in the Southeastern Conference. A&M improved to 14-8, 4-5.

Old Dominion 78, Drexel 66: DeShawn Painter and Dimitri Batten scored 15 points apiece as Old Dominion (3-20, 1-10) snapped a 10-game losing streak and posted the first Colonial Athletic Association victory of the season in the debut of interim coach Jim Corrigan.

Drexel (9-14, 5-6) got a season-high 18 points from Derrick Thomas, while leading scorer Damion Lee (18.2 points) was held scoreless.

Gators lose Yeguete: No. 2 Florida will be without forward Will Yeguete for at least the rest of the regular season following knee surgery.

Yeguete has been slowed by tendinitis all season, but coach Billy Donovan said Thursday that the 6-foot-7 junior's knee had "significant swelling" in recent weeks.

Yeguete, usually the first player off the bench, is averaging 6.0 points and 6.3 rebounds this season.