LDN - Sports / Sports Stories

[click on the titles below to view that section of the Sports Page]

Illinois beats up Arizona
on their way to another victory

By Greg Taylor

[DEC. 19, 2000] The University of Illinois men's basketball team faced yet another top-ranked opponent in Chicago on Saturday, beating Arizona 81-73 in front of a sold-out crowd at the house Michael Jordan built. Illinois had a very balanced attack, as all five starters reached double figures in points, and the bench contributed as well with 21 points. The victory moved Illinois' record to 8-2 on the young season. Illinois continues to be ranked fifth in the nation in both the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll and the AP poll (national sportswriters).

Cory Bradford set an NCAA record with his 74^th straight game of making at least one 3-point basket, breaking an 11-year-old record. Peorian Marcus Griffin led the Illini with 15 points, and Lincoln's Brian Cook scored 10 points and grabbed three rebounds in just 13 minutes of play. Cook had the awesome task of guarding the best player on Arizona’s team, 7-foot-1 center Loren Woods.

Arizona, playing just their second game of the season with All-American center Woods, lost for the third time this season. Only Chicagoan Michael Wright, playing in front of several dozen family and friends, appeared to be willing to bang and bruise with the very aggressive Illini. Wright finished with 21 points and eight rebounds, leading the Wildcats in both categories.

Illinois again received very strong support from their ever-improving bench. Sophomore sharpshooter Sean Harrington took only three shots in 19 minutes of play, but converted on all three, which were behind the arc, to finish with nine points. Center Robert Archibald contributed six points, four rebounds and much-needed defensive toughness on Wright and Woods before fouling out. Damir Krupalijia returned to the lineup briefly and also banged and battled with Arizona's big boys. And Lucas Johnson, quickly becoming one of the premier sixth men in all of college basketball, did as much psychologically as he did physically and kept several Arizona players from reaching their full potential on Saturday.

[to top of second column in this article]

However, despite five games already this season against a Top 10 opponent, there is no rest for the weary. Illinois travels to St. Louis on Thursday for their annual border war with the Missouri Tigers, a team which has beaten Illinois three straight years. After Thursday, Illinois travels to George W. Bush land, Austin, Texas, for a Saturday evening game with the Texas Longhorns, one of the better teams in the Big 12. The Missouri game can be seen Thursday at 8 p.m. on ESPN, and the Texas game can be seen at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday on ESPN2.

[Greg Taylor]

Illinois box score

Arizona	32	41	73
Illinois	38	43	81

Arizona

		FG	FT	reb
	min	m-a	m-a	o-t	a	pf	tp
Wright Walton Woods Arenas Gardner Frazier Wessel Edgerson Jefferson Totals	32 26 30 28 36 6 10 4 28 200	8-12 2-7 3-6 2-12 4-11 1-4 2-3 0-0 5-10 27-65	5-9 0-0 9-10 0-1 2-3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-3 16-26	3-7 2-4 0-4 2-6 2-5 1-1 0-1 0-0 3-7 13-35	1 5 5 2 4 1 0 0 1 19	4 4 4 3 4 2 1 0 4 26	21 4 15 4 13 2 4 0 10 73

Percentages: Fg-.415, Ft-.615.
3-point goals: 3-16, .188 (Wright 0-1, Walton 0-1, Arenas 0-4, Gardner 3-9, Jefferson 0-1).
Team rebounds: 2.
Blocked shots: 1 (Woods).
Turnovers: 14 (Jefferson 5, Arenas 4, Gardner 2, Woods 2, Walton).
Steals: 10 (Gardner 3, Jefferson 3, Woods 2, Arenas, Walton).

Illinois

FG

FT

reb

min

m-a

m-a

o-t

a

pf

tp

Cook
Mcclain
Griffin
Bradford
Williams
Mast
Melton
Cross
Archibald
Johnson
Harrington
Howard
Krupalija
Totals

13
22
32
35
29
1
1
1
17
24
16
1
8
200

3-8
1-7
7-13
4-10
1-4
0-0
0-0
0-0
3-4
1-3
3-3
0-0
1-1
24-53

3-3
8-10
1-3
2-4
9-10
0-0
0-0
0-0
0-0
1-2
0-0
0-0
1-2
25-34

0-3
0-5
2-4
1-3
0-6
0-0
0-0
0-0
3-4
2-5
0-2
0-0
0-2
8-34

1
3
2
2
5
0
0
0
1
4
1
0
0
19

5
1
5
2
2
0
0
0
5
4
1
0
2
27

10
10
15
13
12
0
0
0
6
3
9
0
3
81

Percentages: Fg-.453, Ft-.735.
3-point goals: 8-19, .421 (Cook 1-5, Bradford 3-7, Williams 1-2, Johnson 0-2, Harrington 3-3).
Team rebounds: 8.
Blocked shots: 2 (Cook, Williams).
Turnovers: 15 (Bradford 5, Williams 3, Archibald 2, Johnson 2, Griffin, Harrington, Mcclain).
Steals: 5 (Williams 2, Archibald, Griffin, Mcclain).
Technical fouls: None.

Mayfields 1, Rest of the world 0

By Jeff Mayfield

[DEC. 16, 2000] Last evening a most amazing thing took place. A new little child was born into the world. Now we’re told that thousands of births are recorded each day, but from this reporter’s viewpoint, none was like this. Sure it was in a sterile environment, in a nice clean hospital with all the amenities you would hope to have on hand if you were going to be giving birth to a baby. Yet, something was unique about our experience.

We were blessed with a heaven-appointed doctor who throughout the pregnancy has displayed outstanding skills and the most wonderful bedside manner. But even he is not what has made this occasion so special.

Family and friends have bombarded us with so many cards, gifts and well wishes that it is downright humbling. My wife and I much prefer to be on the giving end rather than the receiving end of those kinds of expressions, and still that encouragement is not what is setting this moment apart.

Having the delivery in central Illinois is incredibly exciting but not enough to be the factor to make this situation so memorable.

At the same time this historic event was taking place, sports fans all over the area were asking such questions as: Will the Illini make it to the Final Four? How will all of the Railer sports teams do this winter? Will the Rams and Colts collide in the Super Bowl? Will Earnhardt and Gordon make comebacks on next year’s NASCAR circuit? Will the Cubs and Cardinals make themselves better in the off-season?

[to top of second column in this article]

The answer to all of these questions is…who in the heck cares? My son has just arrived into the world! Stop the earth, stop the presses, and stop the sports schedules…I’m taking a big TIMEOUT. And if you think some of those TV timeouts are long, wait to see the one I’m taking! I’ve been saving up all those 20s those fans in the stands said I should’ve used way back when I coached college basketball, and I’m using them all…right now! I don’t care what any athletic team anywhere on the planet or even in the universe is doing right now. I’m sorry…but, I couldn’t care less. I’m not even doing any scoreboard watching…the only boards I’m watching now are the monitors that tell me how my wife and son are doing. The only one I’m coaching and the ONLY one I’m a fan of, is this beautiful little boy.

Please give a warm LDN hello to Payne Montgomery Mayfield, who was born on Friday, Dec. 15, at 9:59 p.m.! As far as I’m concerned, the only game that counted yesterday was the one that I was involved in. And I score it Mayfields 1, Rest of the world 0.

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers.

[Jeff Mayfield]

Back to top

A Day in the Life... | Milestones | Obituaries | Diaspora

Business & Ag | Organizations | Events | Good Neighbors | Honors & Awards

Ombudsman | Law & Courts | Rural Review

Crosswords | Games

Letters to the Editor | About LDN | Corrections | Happy Ads | Quick Coupon Clip-Outs