Tamien Trent swished a 3-pointer as the buzzer signaled the end of the first half, and the Fairleigh Dickinson guard proudly tugged his jersey forward from his chest toward the crowd of 26,804.
Illinois fans should be familiar with the celebratory gesture. It is practically the trademark of Illini star Dee Brown, who graced the cover of Sports Illustrated earlier this month with the pose.
At that moment, though, Trent and his Fairleigh Dickinson teammates, a No. 16 seed in the NCAA Tournament, had just cut their deficit against the nation’s No. 1 team to one point at the half.
They certainly had something to feel good about, but not for long.
Behind Brown, Illinois regrouped for a 67-55 victory in a first-round NCAA Tournament game at the RCA Dome.
The Illini (33-1) will play Nevada (25-6) in a second-round game Saturday.
Brown led the Illini with 19 points, and Luther Head added 13. James Augustine had 11 points and 15 rebounds. Fairleigh Dickinson (20-13) was led by Gordon Klaiber, who scored a game-high 24 points.
Brown reeled off eight points in a 14-2 Illinois run to open the second half. His 3-pointer with 13 minutes 51 seconds remaining put Illinois ahead 46-33, forcing Fairleigh Dickinson to burn a timeout to curb Illinois’ startling momentum.
This time it was Brown’s turn to stretch his jersey forward for Illini fans. Teammate Jack Ingram rushed out on the court to chest-bump Brown, and the Illini were on their way.
As well as the Illini have played this season, they have left room for just a bit of doubt in March.
First, they fell at Ohio State on March 6, their first loss of the season, by one point.
By the time they won the Big Ten Tournament at the United Center on Sunday, it became evident that Illini guards were slumping, especially Brown, who went 7-of-35 in four games leading up to the NCAA Tournament’s first round.
UP NEXT
Illinois (33-1) vs. Nevada (25-6)
7:10 p.m. Saturday
“First-game jitters.
They’ll be all right.”
–Nevada coach Mark Fox as he watched the Illini from press row
———-
Edited by Phillip Thompson (plthompson@tribune.com) and Chris Courtney (cdcourtney@tribune.com)
