Total victory. Total joy. Totally beautiful. Uh, except, that is, for Bill Self’s orange sports coat.
For Illinois–and seniors Sergio McClain and Marcus Griffin–Saturday’s 89-63 thrashing of Iowa was as satisfying, as thrilling, as emotional and as critical as a victory can be this time of year.
It moved the third-ranked Illini (22-6, 12-3 Big Ten) only one win–or a Michigan State defeat–away from clinching at least a share of their first Big Ten championship since 1998.
If the Spartans (22-3, 11-3) had cooperated Illinois could be celebrating it right now, but their rout of Penn State kept them a half-game back of the Illini heading into Tuesday’s game at Wisconsin.
As romps go, Illinois’ was as memorable as it was meaningful. From the heartfelt ovation Griffin and McClain received from the capacity crowd of 16,683 before the opening tip until the heartfelt ovation they received when Self took them out with 34.1 seconds to go, there was plenty to relish and to savor …
– McClain feeding his Peoria Manual High buddy Griffin for a layup and Illinois’ first two points.
– McClain hitting a three-pointer to make it Illini seniors 5, Iowa zip.
– McClain taking a behind-the-back pass from Frank Williams and laying it in to put Illinois in front by 37 points in the second half.
– Griffin finishing with 17 points, Cory Bradford breaking out of his shooting slump with 15 points, Lucas Johnson contributing a season-high 16 points and eight rebounds and Damir Krupalija adding 13 points and nine rebounds off the bench as the Illini won their 18th game in a row at home.
And finally, there was Self. The coach showed his support by wearing a sportcoat so ugly the Illini players pleaded the Fifth Amendment when they were asked about it. “It was kind of like a Lou-Do [Henson] jacket,” said Johnson. “But I’m not touching that question.”
A spiffy dresser, Self said he “got a real good deal” on the jacket from a friend in Chicago, “but I think Marcus, Serg and the guys had a lot more to do with us winning than the jacket.”
The postscript on Saturday’s 26-point win was the payback factor. Griffin couldn’t have asked for a better going-away present than clobbering the Hawkeyes, who dealt the Illini their worst defeat of the year, 78-62 on Jan. 11.
“This was my Senior Day,” said Griffin. “We weren’t going to let Iowa come in here and ruin it for us. We had our intensity today where it has never been. I just hope we can keep it that high for the rest of the season.”
For Illinois, the easy part was clobbering a short-handed Hawkeyes team (18-9, 7-7) that was playing without its two best shooters: Luke Recker and Ryan Hogan, both sidelined with knee injuries.
The hard part will be waiting eight days to play Minnesota on the last day of the regular season with a share of the title probably still in the balance.
The Gophers and the Spartans weren’t far from the Illini’s minds Saturday, but a 17-0 run that gave them a 49-22 lead at the half and allowed them to play the second half for fun–and revenge.
“Just looking at the game,” said Bradford, “you can tell how bad we wanted to get them back for what they did to us in Iowa City.”
Iowa was led by its two guards–Dean Oliver with 19 points and Brody Boyd with 14–but with Bradford going 6-for-11 from the floor and with Griffin, Johnson and Krupalija keying a 41-31 edge on the boards, Illinois breezed.
Bradford’s play was especially encouraging. Since setting the NCAA record for consecutive games with a three-point basket (88), Bradford had gone three in a row without one. He hit 2-of-4 Saturday. “I’m back!” said Bradford. “I’m back!”
After a devastating loss Thursday at Ohio State, the Illini wanted to prove they are too. All they can do now, though, is wait. And hope.
“Our goal all year,” said Self, “has been to win the league. It’s my opinion that to do it we’re going to have to win on Sunday.”
