A tiny cut on his nose bled incessantly, requiring Illinois’ Dee Brown to wear a bandage that covered a portion of his face in the second half Sunday against Minnesota.
“I look terrible, don’t I?” he said, laughing during a brief break in play.
Brown could afford to poke fun at himself with Illinois leading by 14 points late in the game and on its way to a 79-69 victory at Williams Arena.
The victory gave the Illini (15-5, 6-3) sole possession of third place in the Big Ten behind Michigan State and Wisconsin.
“We’ve got ourselves sneaking up there on the edge of being in that race,” Illinois coach Bruce Weber said.
Five days after beating Indiana in Bloomington, the Illini once again showed they could avoid a meltdown on the road and pull out a Big Ten victory.
Against Indiana, they had recovered from a seven-point halftime deficit. Against Minnesota (8-13, 0-9) they trailed by 15 points just five minutes into the game. The Golden Gophers made their first seven shots to lead 22-7 and former Providence-St. Mel star Stan Gaines had accounted for half their points.
“Onslaught,” Weber called it. “You thought maybe after the first three or four it would stop, but then they kept going. I don’t know if it was that we weren’t ready, they just came out like a house on fire and took it to us.”
But this time Illinois didn’t panic the way it did in losses last month at Wisconsin and Northwestern.
“I was very proud that we didn’t get shaken,” Weber said. “We just methodically got back into the game.”
For the first time in about three weeks, the Illini got nearly equal production from their post players and guards. Guard Deron Williams led Illinois with 19 points and a career-high 11 assists to offset five turnovers. Brown added 18 points, reserve center Nick Smith 13 and starting center James Augustine 10.
Illinois, which trailed 44-43 at the half, went up for good 55-54 with 14:17 left on a layup by Roger Powell.
“Our confidence was down after we lost our lead, and they just kept making shots,” Minnesota coach Dan Monson said. “They were too quick for us, and I thought we were a little tired.”
Minnesota freshman Kris Humphries, a 6-foot-9-inch bundle of talent and strength, scored 23 for the Gophers on 8-of-21 shooting. Gaines added 12, all in the first half. Humphries leads the Big Ten in scoring (22.6) and rebounding (10.8).
“Our whole goal was not to let anyone else go crazy,” Weber said.
Bigger tests follow for Illinois. League-leading Michigan State visits Champaign on Tuesday and the Illini play host to Wisconsin on Feb. 18.
Illinois players believe they finally have hit a turning point. An impromptu team meeting a few days after the 20-point loss to Wisconsin on Jan. 24 helped bring the Illini together, Williams said. The players-only venting session came after Weber cut practice short when Williams mouthed off to him.
“We knew things had to change,” said Williams, who noted that there have been fewer distractions in recent weeks. Three players were suspended early in the season, but the Illini have avoided controversy recently.
They will find out Tuesday night whether they’ve made enough strides. Michigan State shot 73.3 percent Saturday in beating Ohio State. The Spartans want to avenge their 30-point loss at Illinois last season in the teams’ only meeting this season.
“It’s about time for us to get ready and go for this March Madness stretch,” Powell said. “I think everyone is starting to realize that we’re getting ready to fight for the Big Ten championship.”
Standings
TEAM CONF ALL
Michigan State 7-2 12-8
Wisconsin 6-2 15-4
Illinois 6-3 15-5
Purdue 5-4 15-7
Iowa 5-4 12-8
Indiana 5-4 11-9
Michigan 4-4 13-6
Northwestern 4-5 9-11
Penn State 3-5 9-10
Ohio State 3-6 11-11
Minnesota 0-9 8-13
