California isn’t the only place experiencing an energy crisis.
The electricity seemed to be out all night at Allstate Arena too.
The 9,152 fans who showed up Friday night got exactly what they had expected: a 77-64 victory for ninth-ranked Illinois over their brothers from up north, the Flames of Illinois-Chicago. Excitement, though, was in short supply.
“I don’t think the building had much energy in it at all,” Illinois coach Bill Self said.
Maybe that’s because all those Illini layups and free throws sucked it dry.
“I read where [Illinois coach] Bill Self said he wanted to get the ball inside,” UIC coach Jimmy Collins said. “As an observer of his team, it doesn’t make sense for them to fire it from the outside–not with that kind of beef inside.”
After his team’s 4-for-25 effort from three-point range last weekend against Texas, Self made no secret of his game plan Friday against the Flames (6-6): Get the ball to his front line as much as possible.
Mission accomplished.
Junior guard Cory Bradford made a three-pointer in his NCAA-record 77th straight game but it was center Marcus Griffin and forward Robert Archibald who provided the muscle Illinois (10-3) needed. Griffin and Archibald combined for 37 points and 18 rebounds as the Illini won their eighth straight in the series.
Griffin provided the beefcake in the first half, scoring 15 of his game-high 21 points, primarily on layups and one-handed jumpers in the lane. Archibald took the baton in the second half, scoring 14 of his career-high 16 points by driving to the hoop, drawing fouls and making 10 of his 12 free-throw attempts. Archibald’s 12 rebounds were also a career high.
“Arch played well,” Self said. “I thought he and Griff were our two best players tonight no question. We weren’t real pleased with Arch at the beginning of practice this year. We didn’t think he was a presence. But he has improved an extraordinary amount. A lot of it is just getting confidence. He’s realizing he can do some things.”
Illinois had two nine-point leads and two 10-point leads and enjoyed its biggest lead of the first half when Griffin converted a three-point play to make it 39-27 with 1:29 remaining. At the break, though, UIC had climbed within 39-31. The Illini used a 10-2 run early in the second half, though, to break the game open–temporarily. With 6:40 remaining Illinois led by 20 points (63-43), but behind Jon-Pierre Mitchom (19 points), Jordan Kardos (15) and Joel Bullock (10), the Flames kept the heat on.
“I said before the game this would be a measuring stick for us,” Collins said. “Obviously what we need to do is get some more men. Their post players were men in there. The one thing I can take out of this, though, is `You guys didn’t die; you fought.'”
Illinois fought harder, however. Especially underneath and on the defensive end. The Illini basically set up a “Do not enter” sign in the lane and dared the Flames to test them. Illinois finally took control for good by limiting UIC to only 12 points in the first 13 1/2 minutes of the second half.
