The Illini played really well today at Bloomington and showed they are good enough to beat the 11th ranked Hoosiers on their own floor, but some shots at the end didn't fall. IU won the game, 62-58. Box Score
This was perhaps the Illini's best game this year, other than Maui wins over ASU and Oklahoma State. The Illini were without Frazier (rib injury), and Alexander played little due to a shoulder injury. Demetri McCamey did a nice job at point guard, even though his shots were not falling, and showed he can run the Illini offense, particularly with Trent Meacham on the floor with him. Calvin Brock did a great job on Eric Gordon, holding him to 17 points for the game. Brian Randle played one of his better games, with some scoring, 10 boards, and taking Gordon for part of the second half. Shaun Pruitt had a solid game, and was held back by some rough defense on the part of Indiana.
I was really happy with how well Weber prepared the team to face Indiana. He had a great defensive scheme to slow Gordon down, and double-teaming to slow down DJ White. Weber used Davis, Tisdale and Holdren off the bench for some added scoring today, and probably should have continued this strategy in the second half when the Illini suffered an extended scoring drought.
The Chester Frazier controversy will continue, since the Illini looked better on offense without him, and their defense didn't seem to suffer much. Frazier should be available again for this week's game against Michigan.
The Illini should have a better chance to beat the Hoosiers when the second game comes up in Champaign. The home cooking from the referees always seems to help the home team.
Also, Illini fans that are really depressed about how this season has gone can be optimistic that this team could surprise everyone and take the Big 10 tourney by simply learning to shoot free throws around 70%. Also, if they had a way to break the scoring droughts with a go-to scorer, that would help immensely. Maybe someone like Mike Davis, Rodney Alexander or Demetri McCamey will become that leader. But to see them play Indiana this close at Bloomington, shows there could be a surprise at the conference tournament this year.
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4 comments:
Once again, the kid from T.H. kills them. 3 or 3 in second half. Nails free throws to win game.
Weber should have signed Basset instead of asking him to walk on...
Yes, it's amazing he is not playing much this year. They must just bring him off the bench to beat the Illini, nice work if you can get it. And we don't have starters who can shoot like that. Was a good game for TV viewers and I liked the way Packer commented on the game.
Bassett is the starting point guard. He was suspended for 8 or 9 games for reasons I can not share. LOL.
Last year he had 15 and then 17 against Illinois.
Good Brock b*tch to Gordon located here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4laGaLdfqY
I know that Eric Gordon is the best guard in the country this year, but he definitely looked more human in the game on Sunday. Must have been the defense by Brock.
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