If freshman reserve Jamar Smith and sophomore starter Brian Randle keep scoring the way they did in the second half of Thursday’s NCAA tournament opener against Air Force, Illinois just might exceed expectations.
Smith put on a dazzling display of three-point shooting in scoring 17 of his 20 points in the second half, and Randle scored all 15 of his points in the second half. Smith was 7 of 10 from the field, getting all but one of his baskets from beyond the arc, while Randle made 6 of 9 shots.
Their scoring enabled the fourth-seeded Illini to withstand a three-point barrage and advance to Saturday’s second round of the Washington regional with a 78-69 victory.
The Illini (26-6) will play the winner of Thursday’s nightcap, in which fifth-seeded Washington faced 12th-seeded Utah State.
Another major contributor for Illinois was junior forward Warren Carter. He came off the bench to make 5 of 6 shots and guide Illinois to a 35-28 halftime lead. Carter wound up with 12 points.
Points in the paint, rebounding and ballhandling were important factors in helping Illinois gain the upper hand in the first half. The Illini had 14 points in the paint to four for Air Force, a 14-8 advantage in rebounding and only three turnovers to the Falcons’ five.
A pronounced disparity in three-point shooting kept the Illini from pulling much further ahead in the opening 20 minutes. They were 3 of 14 from beyond the arc, while Air Force was 6 of 14.
The 13th-seed Falcons (24-7) wound up making 13 of 29 three-pointers.
After Air Force took an 11-9 lead, the Illini scored the next 12 points. Leading the run were Carter and James Augustine, who finished with 10 points.
The rest of the half was give-and-take.
Air Force went back to a three-point attack to start the second half, and John Frye connected on its first possession.
After sitting out 10 minutes of the first half, Illinois’ Sean Pruitt asserted himself by answering with back-to-back baskets.
Four fouls and three turnovers by the Illini then helped the Falcons slash their deficit to 39-38.
Two Illinois starters, Randle and Rich McBride, each were charged with their third fouls during this span.
A demonstration of three-point-shooting proficiency followed. Smith hit two threes for the Illini, and Dan Nwaelele made two and Matt McCraw one for Air Force.
But the Falcons’ offense was one-dimensional. In addition to getting the three threes from Smith, the Illini got a conventional three-point play and a drive from Randle, close-in baskets from Carter and Augustine, three free throws from Dee Brown and a Randle put-back to balloon their lead to 62-47. Brown had only eight points but added 10 assists and eight rebounds.Then the teams resumed trading scoring punches. The Falcons got three-point shots from Antoine Hood and McCraw, two free throws from Frye, another foul shot and post-up baskets from Hood and Jacob Burtschi. Illinois countered with two baskets by Randle and a drive and a pair of three-pointers by Smith.
Down the stretch Randle continued to assert himself, scoring on a slam after a steal and sinking two free throws to cement the victory.
The Falcons scored the last six points to make the final score more respectable.
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nmilbert@tribune.com
