As soon as Deron Williams released the ball on his fourth three-pointer, teammate Luther Head had both arms up to tell the world it was going to swish through the net.
Not even five minutes into the game, Roger Powell raised his clenched fists after connecting on his jump shots.
Dee Brown stole the ball from Cincinnati’s Field Williams and headed straight to the basket, wrapping the ball around his back just before scoring on a reverse layup.
Illinois had never looked better.
And there was no better time for its spectacular display of shooting, passing and defensive authority than Sunday. The calm, cool Illini dispatched Cincinnati 92-68 at Nationwide Arena in the second round of the NCAA tournament to advance to the Sweet 16 for the third time in four years.
They will play top-seeded Duke on Friday in a regional semifinal in Atlanta. Illinois (26-6) is seeded fifth.
“We talked about playing at the magical level,” Illinois coach Bruce Weber said. “We had some guys that were magic tonight.”
Indeed.
Williams hit all six of his shots in the first half, including five three-pointers, and had 17 points by halftime. He might have had more, but Weber sat him with more than five minutes left in the half when he drew his second foul.
The 6-foot-3-inch guard finished 10-for-13 from the field, going 6-for-8 on three-pointers, and made 5 of 7 free throws. He set a career high for threes and tied a career best with 31 points. He also had seven assists, three rebounds, no turnovers and a block.
“He told me he was going to do that too,” Brown said. “Told me he was going to kill them. That’s how good he is.”
If the team’s enthusiasm had waned after losing the Big Ten tournament title game to Wisconsin eight days ago, fourth-seeded Cincinnati (25-7) renewed the Illini’s fervor with trash talking. Williams and Cincinnati’s Tony Bobbitt, who scored 15 points, exchanged snide remarks throughout the game.
“I was hot, so I was going to let him know I was hot,” Williams said. “And he came in and got hot, too, so he was talking right back to me.”
It’s safe to say Williams, and the rest of the Illini, had the last word with their actions. They shot a season-high 63.6 percent overall, 57.9 percent on three-pointers, and committed just four turnovers.
Cincinnati coach Bob Huggins was beside himself.
“We tried virtually everything we had,” he said. “We tried playing matchup, we tried playing zone. We tried bumping with the zone. We’re generally a fairly decent man-to-man team. They just–they made a lot of shots.”
It started with Powell, who made two of Illinois’ first three baskets and scored 22 points on 9-of-11 shooting. “I was excited from the start of the game,” Powell said. “After I hit those shots, it was like, `Man, let’s go. We’re ready to play.'”
Brown scored 14 to go with eight assists, one turnover and two steals. Head scored only six points but led the team with nine assists. James Augustine scored 11 points and had two steals.
“Whoever was feeling it, they’d go to him,” Cincinnati forward Jason Maxiell said. Maxiell scored 15. Cincinnati’s Williams led the Bearcats with 16 points.
The Illini sank 10 shots in a row in the first half and nine straight in the last 20 minutes. They led by as many as 24 in the first half and didn’t allow the Bearcats to come closer than 12 in the second half.
Lo and behold, the Illini, who were scraping for Big Ten victories in January, are now one of 16 teams left standing.
“I can’t believe it,” Illinois reserve Nick Smith said. “For us to be playing as well as we are right now and having a chance to go to the Elite Eight. You look at that and compare it to 1-2 in the Big Ten and trying to stay afloat just to make the NCAA tournament.
“It’s almost a miracle that we’ve been able to pull this off.”
Only 8 make up 16
How the Sweet 16 breaks down by conference:
3: Atlantic Coast (Duke, Wake Forest, Georgia Tech)
3: Big East (Pittsburgh, Connecticut, Syracuse)
3: Big 12 (Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma State)
2: Atlantic 10 (St. Joseph’s, Xavier)
2: Southeastern (Alabama, Vanderbilt)
1: Big Ten (Illinois)
1: Western Athletic (Nevada)
1: C-USA (Alabama-Birmingham)
