Illinois marches on, moves to 19-0

Reflections on Thursday night's overtime win

By Jeff Mayfield         

[JAN. 22, 2005]  Bottom line? Illinois scraps, claws and grinds out a slugfest with an improved Iowa team that carries an overall 13-4 record, but a deceptive 1-3 mark in the Big Ten.

You can call our bigs soft as much as you want, but as you're doing it be sure to glance at the stats. Feel ashamed when you see that Augie hauled down 14 monstrous rebounds and was a true man-child in the second half and in overtime while playing with the flu. You might also note that he merely went 7-for-8 at the free-throw line, which is big-time in my book.

You might also casually notice that even though Roger Powell obviously did not have a very good offensive game, he did collect seven huge rebounds and also had a nice 5-for-6 night at the line.

Jack Ingram came up big in this contest as well. He had some nice tip-ins, pulled down four boards, hit a big 3-pointer and constantly supplied Augie with kleenex, all on his way to eight very big points.

Nick Smith saw only seven minutes of action, but he hit six important points and got two caroms as well. I don't like to ever second guess the coaches, but if I were ever asked, I would definitely have lobbied for more PT for Smith.

Officiating went both ways for both teams, but it appeared from my perch that there was a lot of overly physical play in the paint. While some have voiced concern on the free-throw disparity, I think I could make a very solid case that the Illini bigs could have spent a lot more time at the line. One other point… When people question disparity of this nature, I usually have the same response: Attack the basket and force the action. That is the way to balance out the disparity.

Despite what you may have heard from some wacky callers on the call-in show, I thought the crowd was solid last night. And on a night that we desperately needed energy… they brought it. Believe me when I say that I was bringing it as much as I could too… telekinetically!

Before anyone jumps off any building… we're still undefeated at 19-0, 5-0 in the conference, and I can still wear my No. 1 stuff, as next week will be week No. 8!

Trivia question

We'll go to the prize cabinet and pull out something special if you know the last time Illinois started the Big Ten season 5-0. E-mail us at [e-mail], and the first person to do so will win the prize.

[Jeff Mayfield]

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