This isn’t going to be an autopsy. It’s not going to be a criminal investigation into the disparity in free throws either.
That would be missing the forest for the weeds.
No, this game was too good for that, or more accurately, this game was too entertaining for that. It had its own terrible beauty, Mr. and Mrs. Illini Fan, if you allowed yourself to get past what your coach hinted was a major injustice.
Two college teams went at it Saturday in an NCAA tournament game, trading baskets and elbows and mistakes, both of them refusing to lose. But of course one of them did, and it was Illinois, with Dee Brown’s three-point attempt to tie the game bouncing off the back of the rim.
It was only right that Brown, the senior, take the shot, and it was only right that he be the one to miss it. He can handle the failure. There’s still a lot of strength in those shoulders after carrying the team all season. He will carry the weight of this with his unique combination of grace and defiance.
And James Augustine, the other senior starter, can handle the fact he disappeared offensively for much of the second half. Doesn’t mean he’s happy about it, but he can handle it.
“It was a fun ride, but right now it just doesn’t feel that good,” he said.
Washington won this game 67-64 and will advance to a Sweet 16 game in Washington. The Illini, who played in the national championship game last year, are done. The real injustice would be to let a free-throw attempt gap (39-11 in Washington’s favor) overshadow a basketball game that was good to the last drop.
There were huge momentum shifts. Big leads were built, and big leads were lost, by both teams. Coaches exhorted kids, pleading, begging and probably wondering what ever had made them get into this fool business in the first place.
Subs sat on the bench with their arms locked in unity and shared tension.
Is there anything better than an NCAA tournament game going down to the wire? Is it possible, Illini fans, to appreciate this game while bemoaning the outcome? It should be. The energy expended on both sides was enough to power a small city.
Two freshmen played leading roles down the stretch. Illinois’ Jamar Smith, who scored 20 points in the first-round victory over Air Force, threw the ball away with 24 seconds left in the game. And Washington’s Justin Dentmon, from Carbondale, hit two free throws with 20 seconds left to give the Huskies a 66-62 lead. Symmetry.
It wasn’t over until Brown said it was, but, really, it was over.
Illinois coach Bruce Weber was upset afterward, saying his team didn’t understand the intensity it would take to win this game. It could just be that the Huskies were a better team, Bruce. He also seemed to be upset about the disparity in free throws. It could just be that the Huskies were quicker, Bruce.
“Write what you saw,” Weber told reporters afterward. “You guys were out there and could see the difference in free throws.”
“We were hacking more,” Brown said. “And we weren’t disciplined on defense.”
Thank you, Dee.
If you tried to figure this game out, you got a headache. Illinois had slogged back from a 14-point first-half deficit thanks, in large part to Augustine, who was scoring at will early in the second half. He didn’t score again after an alley-oop layup gave him 19 points with 15 minutes left in the second half. The Huskies’ Mike Jensen did most of the heavy lifting.
“We said if we stop this guy, we will win this game,” Washington star Brandon Roy said. “The last four minutes of the game, we did a good job stopping him.”
The NCAA tournament isn’t supposed to be a time for questions. It’s supposed to be a time for answers. But there was an inquisitive fellow in the stands at Cox Arena who demanded to be heard in the first half.
“Where you at, Illinois?” he screamed.
It was a very good question, seeing as how Washington was in the middle of a 19-3 run that would give it a 28-14 lead with a little less than five minutes left in the half. The Illini already were in foul trouble, they were in shooting trouble and they were in quickness trouble. To sum up, they were in trouble.
What happened next answered the question of the Illini’s whereabouts: They were in hiding. From there, Augustine and Brown took over, which is what seniors are supposed to do at this time of year. Augustine scored on a three-point play off a beautiful pass from Brown. Brown scored on a drive and a free throw. What was going on here? Life after a near-death experience.
Somehow, some way, Illinois went off on a 19-7 run in the final 3:39 of the first half, ending on Brown’s three-pointer at the buzzer. In that span, Augustine scored 10 points. If they were going out, the two seniors were going to go out loudly.
And if this was going to be a question of belief, then you had to like the Illini’s chances. They have been believing all year.
Problem was, Washington believed too. And this is the thing to remember: For a college basketball fan, it was a good problem to have.
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rmorrissey@tribune.com
