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Photo Gallery (by Sandy King)
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Eastern Illinois seemed poised to pull off the upset on Sunday afternoon leading by one point at the half at No. 17 Indiana.
The Hoosiers used a key 9-0 run early in the second half to bounce back from a 37-36 halftime deficit to pick up a 90-55 win over EIU at the Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
The Panthers shot 59 percent from the floor in the opening half with two players scoring in double figures.
Nakyel Shelton had 15 of his 17 points in the opening half.
Zion Fruster scored ten of his 13 in the opening 20 minutes.
EIU trailed in the rebound column by just a 12-10 margin while the Panthers defense had picked up six first half steals.
In the second half EIU was limited to 17 percent shooting from the field as the Hoosiers offense began to heat up shooting 65 percent in the second half and 61 percent for the game.
Indiana held a 26-16 rebounding edge in the second half and allowed only two EIU steals.
Mackenzie Mgbako led four IU players in double figures scoring 18 points. Malik Reneau and Oumar Ballo both had 17 as IU used its size to post a 56-24 points in the paint margin.
Artese Stapleton finished as EIU's third scorer in double figures with 12 points.
EIU falls to 1-2 on the season while IU is now 2-0.