Friday was just for fun. Hey, did you see Frank Williams’ spectacular breakaway dunk?
Friday got the jitters out. By most estimates they lasted about 1 minute 38 seconds, the time it took Illinois to grab a 10-0 lead.
But Friday was nothing. Friday was glorified layup practice in front of 13,007 spectators.
Illinois’ first real game in this year’s NCAA tournament will come Sunday against Conference USA tournament champion Charlotte (22-10), which ousted Tennessee 70-63. If it can win that one, Illinois will have done something it hasn’t done since 1989. If the Illini can win that one, the Sweet 16 will taste better than anything they have tasted this season–including their share of the Big Ten title.
Until then, coach Bill Self and his Illini will savor their most dominating performance of the year, a 96-54 thumping of 16th-seeded Northwestern State in the opening round of the NCAA Midwest Regional.
“It’s hard to stop a big train when it’s rolling,” Demons junior guard Michael Byars-Dawson said.
Led by center Marcus Griffin with 16 points and six rebounds and forward Brian Cook with 15 points and eight rebounds, the Illini dominated their smaller opponent underneath in a tipoff-to-buzzer rout that erased every now silly-looking fear that Illinois might become the first No. 1 seed in history to lose in the first round.
Illinois’ 10-0 start prompted Northwestern State coach Mike McConathy to call a timeout after only 100 seconds had elapsed. What did he say?
“I just told them, `Relax,'” he said. “They had just seen one of the best runs a team can make–certainly one of the best I’d seen.”
The Illini, though, didn’t let up. They increased their lead to 30-8 with 9:17 to go and were in front 44-27 at the half, despite playing without Sergio McClain for the last 7 1/2 minutes. X-rays taken on his bruised right shin were negative, and McClain predicted he would be able to play Sunday.
Illinois’ domination ran deep. Cory Bradford hit four three-pointers and finished with 12 points, Damir Krupalija added 12 points and eight rebounds off the bench, and Williams had 11 points and eight assists. But it was Cook and Griffin the Demons couldn’t handle. Cook made 6-of-8 shots, Griffin 7-of-12.
Illinois outscored Northwestern State 48-18 in the paint, 21-8 on second-chance points and 31-14 in points off turnovers. The Illini also had a season-high 27 assists.
“It feels real good,” said Cook, who was eager to make amends for last year, when he was held to two points and four rebounds in Illinois’ two NCAA tournament games. “We had to get out to a great start. We wanted to put them away early. Last year I kind of hit a wall. This year I was more focused. The year of experience helped me.”
Griffin also had a superb day; statistically, the 26 minutes he played were his best of the season.
“Since coming back [from his backside injury, Griffin] has been somewhat inconsistent in terms of playing at a high level,” Self said. “But I thought today he got a great, great start on that.”
For Illinois it was a great, great start to the postseason. The Illini looked as good on defense as they did on offense, holding the Demons to 33.3 percent shooting and 25 percent from three-point range.
Self, though, was quick not to read too much into a 42-point victory margin that was his team’s largest of the season. Memories of the loss to Indiana in the semifinals of the Big Ten tournament remain all too fresh in his mind.
“I told our guys we played very well in the Big Ten against Purdue,” he said. “And we walked out of the United Center Friday–and didn’t have the same focus for Saturday. On Sunday we’ll have to play very, very well to win.”
