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Cook
is top scorer with 17
Illinois
shuts down Michigan
By Greg Taylor
[JAN.
15, 2001]
Playing
its first game of the year without point guard Frank Williams,
Illinois responded with a "point guard by committee" and
destroyed Michigan 80-51. Senior Sergio McClain led the Illini with
the first-ever triple-double in school history — 10 points, 11
rebounds and 11 assists in 33 minutes of action. The only downer for
McClain was his poor free throw shooting, as he made just one of
seven attempts from the charity stripe. Illinois had a total of four
players in double figures.
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Lincoln's
Brian Cook was hampered by early foul trouble but still managed to score
17 points and grab seven rebounds in just 18 minutes of play. Cook
appeared frustrated by the two first half foul calls, as both were calls
in the post away from the game action. Junior Cory Bradford hit two
3-point baskets to continue his consecutive game streak (now 81 straight)
and he finished with 15 points. Fellow junior Damir Krupalija scored 10
points and grabbed six rebounds in just 14 minutes of action.
While
several Illini excelled at the offensive end, the story of the night was
twofold: defense and injuries.
First,
the good news. Illinois tied an Assembly Hall record by holding the
Wolverines to just 13 field goals for the game, and Michigan only scored
five field goals in the first half. On a night when the Illini played
without Williams and lost another starter, Marcus Griffin, shortly before
halftime, the defense gave their best effort of the year. Michigan shot
just 28 percent from the field for the game and was never in the game.
Now,
for the bad news. As earlier stated, point guard Frank Williams was in
street clothes on the sideline. Illini support staff are hopeful he will
return for Wednesday’s game on the road against Northwestern. Griffin
went down in the last minute of the first half with a bruised tailbone, an
injury identical to Williams’. Griffin did not return to action but is
hopeful to be back in the lineup Wednesday night as well.
With
the victory, Illinois is 3-1 in the Big Ten and in second place behind
Iowa. The Hawkeyes are undefeated in conference play and have already won
two big road games, at Penn State and at Purdue on Saturday. Illinois will
play three of their next four games on the road.
Upcoming
games:
At
Northwestern, Jan. 17, 7 p.m., WCIA-TV
Vs.
Penn State, Jan. 20, 2 p.m., WCIA-TV
At
Michigan, Jan. 25, 6 p.m., ESPN
At Penn
State, Jan. 31, 7 p.m., WCIA-TV
[Greg
Taylor]
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Box score
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1st
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2nd
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TOTAL
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Michigan
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23
|
28
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51
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Illinois
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38
|
42
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80
|
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Michigan
|
|
|
FG
|
FT
|
reb
|
|
|
|
|
min
|
m-a
|
m-a
|
o-t
|
a
|
pf
|
tp
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Blanchard
Young
Asselin
Queen
Robinson Jr
Jones
Searight
Gibson
Gotfredson
Groninger
Moore
Adebiyi
Totals
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30
23
31
28
29
12
15
1
1
25
4
1
200
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4-11
0-2
3-9
1-6
0-4
1-2
1-5
1-1
0-0
0-5
2-2
0-0
13-47
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5-6
4-6
3-4
0-0
7-8
0-2
0-0
0-0
0-0
2-3
0-0
0-0
21-29
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4-7
1-3
5-10
0-3
0-6
0-1
0-3
0-0
0-0
0-2
0-1
0-1
10-37
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0
1
1
0
2
0
1
0
1
1
0
0
7
|
3
5
5
1
3
2
1
0
0
2
5
0
27
|
15
4
9
3
7
3
2
2
0
2
4
0
51
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Percentages: Fg-.277, Ft-.724.
3-point goals: 4-21, .190 (Blanchard 2-7, Queen 1-5, Robinson
Jr 0-3, Jones 1-2, Searight 0-1, Groninger 0-3).
Team rebounds: None.
Blocked shots: 1 (Young).
Turnovers: 21 (Young 5, Robinson Jr 3, Searight 3, Asselin 2,
Blanchard 2, Groninger 2, Moore 2, Jones, Queen).
Steals: 3 (Robinson Jr 2, Young).
Illinois
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Illinois |
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|
FG
|
FT
|
reb
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|
|
|
|
min
|
m-a
|
m-a
|
o-t
|
a
|
pf
|
tp
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Cook
McClain
Griffin
Bradford
Harrington
Melton
Mast
Cross
Archibald
Johnson
Howard
Krupalija
Totals
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18
33
16
35
24
16
3
1
12
17
10
15
200
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7-12
4-11
3-3
4-9
0-7
3-8
1-1
0-1
1-3
1-1
0-1
4-7
28-64
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2-2
1-7
0-0
5-6
2-3
0-0
0-0
0-0
3-4
2-2
0-2
1-2
16-28
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2-7
2-11
2-5
1-2
1-2
3-4
0-1
1-1
2-3
0-1
0-0
1-6
15-43
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0
11
2
1
3
0
0
0
0
1
1
1
20
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4
3
1
2
2
1
0
0
5
4
0
2
24
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17
10
6
15
2
7
3
0
5
5
0
10
80
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Percentages:
Fg-.438, Ft-.571.
3-point goals: 8-23, .348 (Cook 1-3, McClain 1-3, Bradford
2-4, Harrington 0-5, Melton 1-4, Mast 1-1, Johnson 1-1, Krupalija
1-2).
Team rebounds: 1.
Blocked shots: None.
Turnovers: 8 (Bradford 2, McClain 2, Cook, Griffin, Krupalija,
Mast).
Steals: 11 (Harrington 4, McClain 3, Archibald, Cross,
Krupalija, Melton).
Technical fouls: Illinois 1 (Bench).
Attendance: 16,683.
Officials: Mike Sanzere, Joe Demayo, Jd Collins.
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Gregg Alexander is movin’ on up
By Jeff Mayfield
[JAN.
9, 2001]
The
LDN knew that Gregg Alexander had already become one of the most
prolific scorers in Lincoln High School history, but by the time the
dust settles, no one may be left in his wake. Alexander had passed
his brother, Geoff, who sits on the tote board currently in fifth
place…bumped from his comfortable fourth-place perch by his little
brother. However, the LDN has learned that even the double-teaming,
slappin’ and hackin’ Lions and Tornadoes, who limited Gregg to
games of 13 and 16, weren’t enough to keep him from passing yet
two more legends on the Railers’ all-time scoring list.
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Earlier
this season Alexander passed one of the all-time greats, Seymour Reed at
1,478 points, and Reed had held third place since the ’70s!
Now
comes the news this weekend that Gregg has passed former All-American at
Kansas and a former NBAer with the Boston Celtics, Norm Cook, who finished
his career in 1973 with 1,697 points.
![](../../images/ads/iga/iga.gif)
Arguably
some people feel that being the coach’s son is to Gregg’s advantage…but
he still has to make the shots! What some people fail to realize is that
he makes a lot of his offense happen by playing some of the best defense
ever seen in Roy S. Anderson gymnasium. Former Lincoln College coach Allen
Pickering told the LDN that Gregg has a pair of the quickest hands that he
has ever seen and that his ability to transition from defense to offense
is the best that he has ever encountered…high praise from a man who once
took a college team to the national championship game. The LDN thinks that
this man knows what he’s talking about!
Another
factoid that is often overlooked about young Alexander’s game is his
consistency. It is our understanding that since Gregg became a starter; he
has scored in double figures in every game. That is truly remarkable on
any level.
[to top of second column
in this article] |
Unofficially
the LDN has Gregg Alexander down for 1,706 points, which now places him in
sole possession of second place on the Railsplitters’ all-time scoring
list.
Who’s
No. 1 one, you ask? Why, Chuck Verderber of 1974-78 fame, of course, who
finished an outstanding career with 2,032 points. If our math is correct,
Gregg would still needs 326 points just to tie Verderber. He is currently
averaging a little over 23 points per game, but would need to bump that to
25-plus ppg in order to catch the leader.
![](../../images/ads/Edward_Jones/JimSparrows.gif)
Whether
he catches him or not is irrelevant to us —
especially when you consider that
the four other players in this elite club of all-time scorers were all
interior post players. Gregg is the only guard, which makes what he has
accomplished all the more remarkable to us. He’s also fashioned this
colossal performance while carrying the burden of following an older
brother, being the coach’s son, along with a few other burdens.
From our
perspective, Gregg has made his mark with flair, with dignity and with
pride. This week the Lincoln Daily News salutes Gregg Alexander,
the second-highest scorer in Lincoln Railer history!
[Jeff
Mayfield]
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