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Probable
starters
F, 40 -- James Augustine (So., 6-10,
225, 11.3 ppg, 10.2 rpg)
F, 43 -- Roger Powell (Jr., 6-6, 220,
14.7 ppg, 5.3 rpg)
C, 45 -- Nick Smith (Jr.-r, 7-2, 240,
6.8 ppg, 4.7 rpg)
G, 5 -- Deron Williams (So., 6-3, 210,
14.2 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 7.0 apg)
G, 11 -- Dee Brown (So., 6-0, 175, 13.7
ppg, 2.8 rpg, 4.3 apg)
Off the
bench
C, 1 -- Aaron Spears (Fr.-r, 6-9, 260,
3.5 ppg, 1.5 rpg)
G, 4 -- Luther Head (Jr., 6-3, 175, 7.8
ppg, 2.0 rpg)
G, 25 -- Jerrance Howard (Sr.-r, 6-1,
200, 1.0 ppg, 1.0 rpg)
G, 33 -- Richard McBride (Fr., 6-3,
210, 0.0 ppg, 1.0 rpg)
F, 41 -- Warren Carter (Fr., 6-9, 205,
4.3 ppg, 2.0 rpg)
F, 42 -- Brian Randle (Fr., 6-8, 200,
5.0 ppg, 2.5 rpg)
C, 50 -- Jack Ingram (Jr.-r, 6-10, 240,
3.7 ppg, 3.8 rpg)
Illinois
coaching
Head coach: Bruce Weber; overall record
107-56, .656 (sixth year); Big Ten 0-0; at Illinois 4-2 (first
year); first meeting versus Maryland-Eastern Shore
Assistant coaches: Chris Lowery (first
year), Wayne McClain (third year), Jay Price (first year)
Assistant to the head coach: Gary
Nottingham (first year)
Trainer: Al Martindale (21st year at
Illinois)
Maryland-Eastern Shore coaching
Head coach: Thomas Trotter; overall
record 28-58 (fourth season); at UMES 28-58; first meeting versus
Illinois
Assistant coaches: Paris Parham, Brian
Kusnierz, Steve Golston
Home
cookin'
Illinois is 41-1 (.976) at the Assembly
Hall over the last three-plus years, with the only loss coming to
Michigan State in 2002. ... Since then, the Illini have won 19
straight at home. ... Illinois is 53-2 (.964) at home over the past
four-plus seasons, the best home record in the nation over that
period. … The Illini have won 28 in a row at the Assembly Hall
against non-conference opponents.
Big Ten
leaders
* Sophomore James Augustine (.667) and
Roger Powell (.648) rank second and fourth, respectively, in field
goal percentage in the Big Ten.
* Roger Powell ranks ninth (14.7 avg.),
Deron Williams 10th (14.2) and Dee Brown (13.7) 12th in scoring.
* Williams ranks first in assists (7.0
avg.), while Brown is seventh (4.3 avg.).
* Augustine ranks second in rebounding
(10.2 avg.).
* Williams leads in free-throw
percentage (12-13, .923).
* Williams ranks seventh in steals
(1.83 avg.).
* Augustine ranks ninth in blocked
shots (1.17 avg.).
* Brown leads Big Ten with 2.67 3-pt.
field goals per game, while Williams is sixth (1.83 avg.).
* Illinois leads the Big Ten in scoring
(79.7 ppg), assists (19.33 avg.) and field goal percentage (.484).
* Illinois ranks third in rebounding
margin (plus 6.5), second in offensive rebounding (15.2 avg.), third
in 3-point field goals (5.8 avg.) and third in assist-turnover ratio
(1.23).
Top 25
streak continues
Illinois is ranked 14th in the current
(Dec. 8) ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll, extending its streak to 63
consecutive polls in which the Illini have been ranked. Illinois is
also ranked No. 14 in the AP Top 25 poll.
The Illini had a school-record streak
of 30 straight polls in the Top 10 snapped in January 2002 but never
dropped out of the Coaches' Top 25 the last three-plus seasons.
Last time
out
Illinois played perhaps its worst game
in several seasons in dropping a 70-51 decision to Providence at
Madison Square Garden Tuesday in the Jimmy V Classic. The Illini led
30-26 at halftime but were outscored by the Friars 46-21 in the
second half, with Illinois shooting just 31 percent from the field
in the second half. For the game, Illinois shot a season-low 41.1
percent and committed a season-high 22 turnovers. James Augustine
turned in another strong performance with 16 points and 11 rebounds.
Williams
showcases all-around game -- he scores, he defends, he distributes
the ball
Guard Deron Williams has been turning
heads with his sensational play to start his sophomore season.
Williams is second on the team in scoring (14.2 ppg) and has scored
in double figures in five of six games, setting a career high in
points in three consecutive games up to the Arkansas game and
setting a career high with 10 assists against the Razorbacks. His
scoring average so far is eight points better than his freshman
scoring average of 6.3 points. He scored a career-high 22 points
versus North Carolina and is shooting 46 percent from the field
(31-67) and 39 percent from 3-point land (11-28). While his scoring
has improved dramatically, Williams remains an unselfish player with
the ball in his hands. He leads the Big Ten in assists with 42 (7.0
apg), handing out eight assists in the season opener versus Western
Illinois and again against North Carolina, before dropping 10 dimes
against Arkansas.
[to top of second column in this article] |
Brown
named Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year
Sophomore guard Dee Brown, nicknamed
the "One-Man Fast Break," was named the Big Ten's Preseason Player
of the Year by the media and was named to the preseason all-Big Ten
squad by both the media and coaches. Wisconsin's Devin Harris was
the preseason player of the year as voted by the coaches. Brown was
also named to the 12-man Playboy Magazine all-America squad and is
one of 50 players on the Wooden Award all-America preseason watch
list. Brown is the fourth-consecutive Illini to earn league
preseason player of the year honors, following Cory Bradford in
2001, Frank Williams in 2002 and Brian Cook in 2003.
Brown is currently third on the team in
scoring at 13.7 points per game. He also ranks second in assists
with 4.3 per game. Brown leads the Big Ten in 3-pointers per game
with an average of 2.7.
Last year, he earned second-team
all-Big Ten honors from the media, third-team honors from the
coaches and earned a spot on the first-ever Big Ten all-freshman
team. Brown was second on the team in scoring, averaging 12.0
points. He led the Big Ten in assists with 4.97 per game and also
led the league with an assist-turnover ratio of 2.56. He ranked 18th
in the Big Ten in scoring at 12.0 points per game. One of the
quickest guards in America, Brown's 1.78 steals per game led the
team and ranked third in the Big Ten. In Big Ten Conference games
only, Brown totaled 76 assists with only 25 turnovers, leading the
conference with an assist-turnover ratio of 3.04 in league play.
Back-to-back double-doubles vs. Mercer and Temple for Powell
Junior Roger Powell recorded the first
double-double of his Illinois career against Mercer on Nov. 26,
scoring 16 points and grabbing a career-high 10 rebounds. What
better way to follow up that performance than with another
double-double in his next outing versus Temple? Powell scored 19
points and matched his career high with 10 boards. He then scored a
season-high 20 points against North Carolina Dec. 2.
Powell leads the team in scoring and is
second in rebounding, averaging 14.7 points and 5.3 rebounds. He is
shooting 65 percent from the field (35-54) and is second among the
Illini with 16 offensive rebounds.
Last year in Big Ten play, Powell led
the league in field goal shooting at 64.1 percent and was named to
the Big Ten all-tournament team after helping the Illini to the
title.
Augustine
averaging double-double
Another member of the heralded Illini
sophomore class is James Augustine. Augustine, named to the
first-ever Big Ten all-freshman team last season, is averaging a
double-double with 11.3 points and 10.2 rebounds per game. He is
shooting 67 percent (30-45) from the field and leads the team with
22 offensive rebounds in six games. Augustine has scored at least
nine points in each game and has had at least nine boards in five of
six games, with a career-high 13 against Western Illinois in the
season opener.
Last year, as a freshman, he averaged
7.0 points while shooting 58.0 percent from the field. Augustine was
second on the team, behind Brian Cook, in rebounding, averaging 5.8
boards. He ranked 13th in the Big Ten in rebounding at 5.8 per game
and was 13th in blocked shots. In Big Ten play only, Augustine
ranked third in field goal shooting at 58.6 percent.
Smith
steps into starting role
Nick Smith, a 7-foot-2 junior, moved
into the starting lineup in the third game of the season and is
averaging 6.8 points and 4.7 rebounds. He has scored in double
figures in three games, with season highs of 13 against Western
Illinois and Mercer. Smith had a 10-point performance versus
Arkansas.
Last year, he put up some impressive
numbers off the bench in Big Ten play. In 16 conference games, Smith
shot 67.3 percent (33-49) from the field, made four of six treys and
shot 90.5 percent (19-21) from the free-throw line. Smith averaged
5.9 points and 2.9 rebounds in the league while averaging 18.8
minutes per game. He led the Illini and ranked seventh in the Big
Ten with 38 blocked shots. Smith was Illinois' top free-throw
shooter, making 38-of-44 from the line for 86.4 percent on the
season.
Future
Coach Howard?
Senior Jerrance Howard, who returned in
2003-04 for his fifth year, hopes to break into coaching after his
eligibility is finished this season. While at Illinois, he has
played under three coaches: Lon Kruger, Bill Self and Bruce Weber.
More
information
For the complete Illini news release
in PDF format, click here.
[To download the Adobe Acrobat reader
for the PDF file,
click
here.]
[Kent Brown, assistant
athletics director,
sports information director,
University of Illinois] |
