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Dee Brown had 21 points, seven assists and five rebounds to lead
a lineup that included three freshmen as No. 12 Illinois, often
dominating play, beat No. 11 Missouri 85-70 on Saturday.
"We controlled all
aspects of the game, in my opinion," Brown said. "We played great
and we did a great job of rebounding and getting loose balls."
Illinois (8-0) has
won the last three games in the neutral-site series, which again
played to a sellout crowd of 22,153 at Savvis Center. It was the
first time both teams were unbeaten since 1989.
"It needs to hurt and
it does hurt," Missouri coach Quin Snyder said. "It's a crummy way
to go into your Christmas. I thought we were ready to play."
[Photos by Ed Bacon]
Brown and Ricky
Clemons played to a virtual standstill in a battle of point guards.
Clemons had 16 points and three assists and hit four 3-pointers,
while Brown made quick recovery from a shoulder injury early in the
second half, missing only about 2˝ minutes.
"When Dee is making
shots, I like him even more than I did when I said he was the most
important signee at Illinois," coach
Bill Self said. "I know he's only a freshman and lot of
notoriety has come his way, but he deserves every bit of it."
But Illinois excelled
inside against an experienced Missouri front line, outrebounding the
Tigers 42-32.
Brian Cook barely missed his second straight double-double with
17 points, hitting all 10 free throws, and nine rebounds. Five
others contributed four or more rebounds each.
"Offensively, that
was the best we've rebounded all year," Self said. "Our guys inside
were very active."
Missouri felt the
rebound count was indicative of getting outhustled in their biggest
game of the season to date.
"That hurts to say,"
forward Travon Bryant said. "That's what we're proud of, being a
hustle team that gets to rebounds, loose balls and second-chance
shots."
[to top of second column in this
article] |
Missouri's Arthur
Johnson, who entered the game with four double-doubles in the last
five games, got into early foul trouble and never got into the flow,
finishing with eight points and three rebounds. He had been
averaging 17 points and eight boards but often faced
double-teaming.
"He came back in the
second half and was really pressing," Snyder said. "He's in the
locker room with his head in a towel crying, because it means
something to him."
Missouri's Rickey
Paulding matched his average with 17 points, but was no factor most
of the game. Freshman Jimmy McKinney, the Tigers' first St. Louis
city recruit in 30 years, added 15 points.
Illinois shot 45
percent overall, Missouri a season-worst 37.7 percent. Illinois also
helped itself at the line, going 21-for-25.
Illinois led 39-32 at
halftime, and stretched the lead to 59-41 with a 9-0 run early in
the second half. The run came with Cook, the team's leading scorer
with a 20.6-point average, out with three fouls.
Missouri closed to 11
points with seven straight points, but couldn't get any closer than
nine the rest of the way.
A 14-3 run over a
five-minute stretch gave Illinois control in the first half. The
Illini had four 3-pointers, including two straight by Brown, to go
ahead 20-14 with 10:35 left.
Missouri closed to 34-32 on five
straight points by McKinney, a 3-pointer and fastbreak layup with
2:27 to go, before Illinois recovered for the seven-point halftime
lead.
Final stats
Illinois
39 46 --85
Missouri 32
38 --70
[News release]
www.fightingillini.com |
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Vince Greene, with 16 points, was the
only other Redbird to score in double figures. Freshman Marcus
Arnold finished with nine points and six rebounds, but the Birds
committed 18 turnovers and were outrebounded by the Huskies 38-30.
Freshman Todd Peterson had a
career-high 18 points on six 3-pointers for Northern Illinois.
Former Redbird P.J. Smith scored 16 for the Huskies, including three
from beyond the arc. Jay Bates also scored in double figures for NIU,
with 17 points.
Illinois State jumped out to an early
7-2 lead sparked by a 3-pointer by Greene. However, turnovers
hampered the Redbirds in the first half, and the Huskies were able
to pull ahead 14-12 on a 3-point basket by Anthony Maestranzi with
11:41 remaining before halftime.
The two teams battled back and forth
for the lead over the game's next seven minutes, but with just over
four minutes remaining Todd Peterson hit a 3-pointer to spark a 13-4
Huskie run to end the half and give Northern Illinois a 31-24
advantage heading into the break. Greene led the Redbirds into the
locker room with nine first-half points on perfect three-for-three
shooting from the field, including two-for-two from the line.
The Huskies came out firing in the
second half, outscoring the 'Birds 13-4 in the first five minutes
and keeping Illinois State without a field goal. Peterson hit two
3-pointers to pace the NIU run. Greene hit a jumper from the left
baseline to give the Redbirds their first field goal in the half and
bring ISU to within 14 points, 44-30, with 14:34 remaining in the
game.
[to top of second column in this
article] |
Guidry single-handedly took over the
game for Illinois State, scoring the Redbirds' next 10 points
compared with only one point from Northern Illinois, and cutting the
Huskies' lead to eight, 48-40, with 11 minutes remaining. A 3 by
Smith at the 10-minute mark ended the NIU field goal drought and put
the Huskies back ahead by double digits at 51- 40.
The 'Birds were able to close to within
six twice in the remaining 10 minutes, led by more hot shooting from
beyond the arc by Guidry, but a 3-pointer by Smith with just over
four minutes remaining stifled any hopes of a Redbird comeback as
the margin went back up to 10 at 63-53 and NIU converted its free
throws to seal the victory.
Illinois
State returns to action after the holiday with its Missouri Valley
Conference opener at home on Sunday, Dec. 29, against SMS. The game
is slated for a 2:05 start. (Click
here for pre-game notes.)
[Erica Fricke, assistant
director of media relations, Illinois State University]
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Brian Cook continued his domination of
non-conference foes by hitting for a double-double Saturday in
Illinois' 70-54 win over Temple. All Cook did was to lead all
scorers with 25 points. He also led all rebounders with 11 and may
have led all vendors in popcorn sales for all we know!
The greatest thing about his most
recent performances is the leadership he has brought this team. I've
read that he isn't a vocal leader and therefore is not doing his job
in that capacity. Give me a guy who can score and rebound any day --
that's plenty of leadership for any ship that I'm on!
Now it's time for some of his teammates
to step up and share some of the load. It will be interesting to see
how many people dive off the Cook wagon when he has a bad game or
two. And it will be interesting to see who steps up for Illinois and
rescues us on the days Cook can't.
Maybe it will be Dee Brown. Awakened
from his first-half slumber, he shook some of the Owls out of their
trees for 15 second-half points, and he was the only other Illini in
double figures.
Illinois only shot a season-low 43
percent. You will read in other outlets how Temple's tough zone
confused the Illini. However, IF you've ever been to the United
Center, YOU know that it is a difficult place to shoot! IF you don't
believe me, ask Michael… and I don't mean Abbott! MJ remarked many
times how he missed the friendly rims and bounces of the old Chicago
Stadium and was not all that enthralled with the background, rims or
any of the UC's nuances for that matter.
On the other hand, we have warned
several times right here that we're not sure that this Illini team
is shooting the rock as well as past teams have shown. But there's
plenty of potential and plenty of time for this Illinois bomb squad
to heat up; and we're hoping that they do it at just the right time.
The Illini did hold Temple to 29
percent shooting with some pretty good "D," but refer to the above
for another factor in their demise! Illinois did convert on an
amazing 19-of-21 free throws. Thanks to the entire team for reading
about the need to improve in that category right here in the LDN!
The Orange and Blue also out-rebounded Temple 38-37.
All it does is get tougher from here on
out, as Illinois' next two opponents are Missouri and Memphis. Don't
be fooled by MSU's big loss at Columbia… They'll be much tougher in
the Pyramid! And Mizzou is so due Saturday… I'd love to see us shut
them down again!
Railers
survive!
And I mean that in EVERY sense of the
word. Coach Neil Alexander and his staff have lulled me into a false
sense of security. I may be as bad as some of his players in this
respect. I know that we'll find a way to win. But you sure had to
search long and hard for it Saturday night versus a vastly improved
Kankakee ball club.
I've heard of slow starts, but this
game may have even taken the cake for the slowest start ever. There
were possibly six turnovers on the first seven possessions. We put
the "UG" in "ugly!" But somehow Lincoln was only down by a bucket at
halftime, thanks to an acrobatical half-court 3 drained by Chris
Bunch! That momentum buster may have been enough to turn the tide,
as we don't think the Railers trailed the rest of the night.
But they did hang on for their lives.
Kankakee kept chipping away, and LCHS kept missing their free throws
and took a few ill-advised shots until it was a one-point game. Cory
Farmer then hit a big front end of a one-and-one, and his miss
bounced around until time ran out as Lincoln found that way to a
two-point win, 66-64.
But this is a mark of a special team --
they get outplayed by a team with tremendous athleticism and still
find ways to beat you. IF that's not GREAT coaching, then I don't
know what is!
The Railers also drubbed Taylorville
this weekend, 71-23.
Mount
Pulaski chops down another giant
The Hilltoppers keep knocking down
giant after giant. After dethroning last year's Class A state
champion Pleasant Plains squad, they next tackled No. 15-ranked
Riverton. And even though they had a guy go off for 34 points, it
wasn't enough. Mount Pulaski ran its record to 7-2 with a 70-59
upset. Next up is a home battle with Clinton tomorrow (Tuesday)
night.
[to top of second column in this
article] |
 Lady Lynx
rolling too
The Lincoln College Lady Lynx are
rolling right along. Two more victories this weekend put them at a
sparkling 11-3 including a nice 75-50 romp over Meramec.
Angels
not as fortunate
The LCC Angels hit another snag in the
road, losing to Grinnell 73-49. Former Lady Railer Brittany Robbins
continues to lead the way for Lincoln.
Lynx,
Preachers going through a tough stretch
LC lost a 72-69 squeaker to Rend Lake,
and LCC took two losses this weekend at the Taylor University
tourney, losing to the hosts 73-52 and to Tri-State University
103-77. But tough competition for both teams now will make them more
battle-ready when conference and postseason play gets here.
We commend all of our area coaches for
playing such tough schedules!
ISU loses despite Alexander's 18
ISU lost at Western
Kentucky 63-43 yesterday. Lincoln's Gregg Alexander led all scorers
with 18 points. (Click
here for game report.)
Lady
Railers lose a heartbreaker
Lincoln's Lady Railers were hoping to
get another win under their belts. But they were denied on Saturday
afternoon as Quincy won a hard-fought 54-49 overtime contest in
Lincoln.
Bears win
again
Just when you leave them for dead, the
Chicago Bears step up and rise from the dead. The last few weeks all
anyone would talk about was how improved the Jets were with Chad
Pennington at the helm. But after the Bears won 20-13 Sunday in
Champaign, we're not hearing as much talk. Check the incomparable
Greg Taylor's story on the
game!
Sam
White's making some noise
How 'bout the game Sam White of LCHS
recently rolled? The senior Railer put up a 289 to go along with
another 600-plus series. Sam would like to possibly continue his
bowling career at Western Illinois University.
White, who is a student manager for the
Railer basketball team, took his accomplishment in stride. He told
the LDN that he fully expects to improve and that a perfect 300 game
looms on the horizon.
He is a recent addition to the list of
some great student managers, including Adam Butts, Stacy Willis,
Jamie Graack, Ryan Gleason and Colby Elkins. Not to mention Brian Boyer, a longtime
member of the managing crew who always did a good job for the team
-- when he wasn't pickin' on coach Aeilts! And what can you say
about Jake Sheley? Other than the fact that he has been terribly
misguided into supporting that crazy Duke program (do you know how
many national titles Self could have won with that kind of talent?),
he's been a pretty good manager through the years. He's now taken
his managerial act to Illinois Wesleyan, where he's parlayed it into
a FREE trip to Hawaii -- definitely a guy following in Greg Taylor's
footsteps!
IF YOU were ever a Railer manager for
ANY sport and have a story YOU can tell, please
contact us here at
the LDN. We try to never leave any stone unturned here and
appreciate ANYone and EVERYone who has ANYthing to do with our young
people! You managers, stat and scoreboard/book people make ALL the
games more enjoyable for all of us. THANKS from the LDN for all you
do. We do take notice!
"FANdamonium"
…has been fun the last two weeks as you
amaze us with your answers to the trivia questions! We've got lots
to talk about: the Illini, the Railers, the Bears, just to name a
few. So, hit the LIVE LDN link
or tune your radio to FIX 96.3 FM or your TV to Channel 5 and join
Greg and me tonight at 6!
And "Happy
Birthday" to the best little local sport I know, who just turned 2
on Sunday. He called me his buddy this week, and therefore he's my
player of the week!
[Jeff
Mayfield]
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