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However, it was a freshman playing in his first NCAA tourney, a
sophomore who missed last year due to an injury, and a reserve
junior who seized the day and made the difference for Illinois.
Jamar Smith, the freshman guard from Peoria, exploded for 17
second-half points on his way to 20 for the game. Smith
single-handedly bailed Illinois out time and time again down the
stretch to help Illinois win and advance. However, the story of the
game was more than just Smith. Another key player made the
difference for Illinois in the first half. Sophomore Brian Randle
battled through a frustrating first half, playing just five minutes
while battling foul trouble -- a trend many Illinois fans would like
to see much less of. The athletic redshirt sophomore made the most
of the second half, however, scoring all 15 of his points after the
break. Randle also grabbed five second-half rebounds and had three
nice slam-dunks to electrify the Southern California crowd.
And junior Warren Carter, usually the fourth player off the
bench, played 11 minutes in the opening half and made the most of
every minute, scoring 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting and helping
Illinois jump out to a 35-28 lead. The soft-spoken junior from
Dallas benefited from early foul trouble by Brian Randle and Rich
McBride and didn't miss his chance to shine in the bright lights of
the NCAA tourney.
Brown and Augustine did their parts for the Illini as well on
Thursday. Brown finished with 10 assists, eight points and eight
rebounds and truly played the part of point guard for Illinois.
Augustine scored eight quick points for the Illini (out of their
first 17) but was the victim of several questionable foul calls and
played only 28 minutes in the game. Augie finished with 10 points
for the game.
In the end, Illinois won and advanced against a good Air Force
team, by the final score of 78-69. The game was really tense for
Illini nation, as the Falcons played hard from the beginning and
fought to the bitter end. Even when Illinois opened a 78-62 lead in
the final two-plus minutes, Air Force continued to fight and scored
the final seven points of the game to make the final margin more
respectable.
The name of the game in mid-March is "win and advance," and that
is exactly what happened for Illinois Thursday night. On a day when
No. 5-seeded Nevada went down in flames and No. 2 seed Tennessee
needed a last-second circus shot to survive, Illinois took care of
business and will now advance to a 4:30 p.m. game on Saturday
against Washington, the winner of the late game Thursday night at
Cox Arena.
[to top of second column] |
 Several positives played out for Illinois on Thursday night in
San Diego, including:
-
The Illini finally
shot free throws well throughout the game, making 12 of 14.
-
Illinois committed
just two turnovers in the first half.
-
Illinois
outrebounded the Cadets 28-15 for the game. Dee Brown, the
smallest member of the Illini team, led them in boards with
eight.
-
Illinois had a good
scoring balance, placing four players in double-figure scoring,
while Brown and Shaun Pruitt each chipped in eight points.
-
The Illini shot 58
percent from the field for the game (29-of-50), one of their
better efforts on the year.
-
The Illini had 17
assists on their 29 made field goals.
A couple of negatives were also on display:
-
Illinois allowed
Air Force to shoot 51 percent from the field for the game.
-
Air Force also made
13 3-pointers, far too many, as they ran the slow-down offense
made famous by Princeton.
-
The biggest
negative of all involved the start of the game. Due to a bomb
threat earlier in the day at Cox Arena, the schedule for
Thursday was set back. As a result, just before Illinois and Air
Force began to warm up, the arena was cleared for cleanup. The
result was something the LDN has never witnessed: As the
Illinois game began at around 5:40 p.m. Pacific time, about 250
fans were in the arena. It was not until the 10-minute mark of
the half that most of the fans were finally in their seats.
We're not quite sure why the NCAA insisted on starting the game
without most of the fans in the arena, but our guess is TV and
specifically CBS had something to do with this.
Other games played Thursday at San Diego:
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No. 10 Alabama 90
No. 7 Marquette 85
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No. 2 UCLA 78
No. 15 Belmont 44
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No. 5 Washington
75
No.12 Utah State 61
[Greg
Taylor] |
