Illini Follow Formula to Success

Illinois beats Michigan 75-57

By Jeff Mayfield

[January 17, 2008]  The Illinois Fighting Illini followed the template to winning basketball Wednesday night in Champaign en route to a much-needed 75-57 victory over the Michigan Wolverines. Leading the way for Illinois were seniors Brian Randle and Shaun Pruitt, who led all scorers with 19 points each. Randle coupled that outburst with 10 rebounds and arguably played one of his best games ever in an Illini uniform. Pruitt added seven boards, demanded the basketball, made some nice passes and sank some free throws. The Illini bigs outscored the Michigan bigs 38-18.

It was nice to see Illinois right the ship in such an emphatic way. They followed the formula to winning basketball almost by the numbers. They created more possessions by taking a commanding 39-30 edge in the rebounding battle. They made the extra pass, had better movement and flow in the offense, were more unselfish, and all that led them to 19 assists while committing only 10 turnovers.

The guys in orange also did a better job on the offensive end, employing Weber's "aggressive patience," which led them to finding better shot selection, more shots in the continuity of the offense and better balance. The Illini shot a solid 53 percent from the field, including 6-of-14 from downtown. The balance demonstrated itself when Calvin Brock and Trent Meacham helped the cause by both contributing 11 points. This marked only the third game all season that Illinois had four players reach double figures. But once again, achieving that kind of balance is another major component of following the recipe to success.

To conclusively demonstrate other important ingredients that Illinois added to the mix, I would have to point you to Demetri McCamey's line. He tallied seven points while garnering four rebounds and dishing off six assists, with only two turnovers in 34 minutes of action. Chester Frazier, who according to coach Weber had not practiced in 10 days, came off the bench to haul down eight rebounds and played his traditional suffocating defense in his 25 minutes of work. Throw in a pinch of Mike Tisdale, who continues to impress, and his five points was the final ingredient to baking the success.

An appreciative sellout crowd of 16,618 marked the 54th straight capacity crowd.

I hope that this is only the beginning. I did sense that there was more relief being emoted than celebration, but it's a start. Maybe something good will happen for this team yet. I know one thing: If they continue to follow this formula, they will emerge as a much more competitive basketball team. I'd love to see them have some more successful recipes. I think they deserve it.

[By JEFF MAYFIELD]

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