March 18, 2001

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Post-game locker room interviews with Illini players and coaches, as well as Director of Athletics Ron Guenther.
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By JOE KAY
AP Sports Writer

DAYTON, Ohio - No drama in Dayton? The Midwest Regional's top team didn't mind at all.

Illinois made sure that there would be no 3-point barrage and no big upset in the arena where, remarkably, the NCAA tournament played true to form all week.

The Fighting Illini used pesky perimeter defense to beat Charlotte 79-61 on Sunday, winning a second-round game for the first time in 12 years.

While there were upsets galore around the rest of the country, the six weekend games in Dayton were decided by an average of 21.6 points. The favored teams could grind it out instead of sweating it out.

"We were relaxed for the most part," said center Marcus Griffin, who helped shut down Charlotte's Rodney White. "We tried to enjoy these two games as much as possible."

Illinois (26-7) will play Kansas, the regional's fourth seed, in a semifinal Friday in San Antonio. Like the Fighting Illini, the Jayhawks ended a run of second-round disappointments Sunday by drubbing Syracuse 87-58.

Illinois hadn't been to the round of 16 since 1989, the only other time it's had a No. 1 seed. The Fighting Illini reached the Final Four that year, but had failed to make it past the second round in their last seven appearances.

"We didn't want to go out of here saying, 'Should have, would have, could have,"' said Sergio McClain, one of four Illini in double figures. "A lot of people out there were doubting us. We went out and showed them all."

The tournament began Tuesday in Dayton with a play-in that turned out to be the best game of the week at the arena. Northwestern State's 71-67 victory over Winthrop for the 64th spot was the closest of the bunch.

Charlotte (22-11), seeded ninth, pulled off the only thing approaching an upset by beating eighth-seeded Tennessee 70-63 in the first round.

The 49ers had a shot at a real upset Sunday, but couldn't get its 3-point shots to fall. Charlotte, second only to Duke in 3-pointers made this season, missed 13 of its first 14 tries and never recovered.

Charlotte hit 37 percent of its 3-point shots during the season. Against Illinois' extended defense, the 49ers hit only 6 of 30 (20 percent).

They missed 13 of their first 14 tries, fell behind by double digits and never recovered.

"If we had hit a couple of shots, it might have been a little different, but they didn't let that happen," said Jobey Thomas, who scored 14 points. "We dug too big of a hole at the beginning. You can't spot them 15 points."

Illinois also trained its defense on White, who led all Division I freshmen in scoring with a 19-point average. He missed his first three shots, committed a foul and had the ball stripped away as Illinois surged ahead 10-2.

White managed only nine points on 4-of-13 shooting, missing all six of his 3-point tries. Teammates patted his back and rubbed his head, consoling him as the game wound down.

White was noncommittal when asked whether he would leave for the NBA, saying he'll decide in the next few weeks.

"Right now, I'm not leaning one way or the other," he said.

Everything went Illinois' way. It had one of its best defenders back - McClain played with a black pad on the right shin that he bruised in a first-round win over Northwestern State.

He hit a pair of one-hand, running bank shots during an eight-point spurt that put Illinois ahead 27-16 and showed he was fine.

Once the lead reached 22 points early in the second half, coach Bill Self had the luxury of pacing his team and substituting freely.

Self, in his first year at Illinois, took Tulsa to the tournament in each of the past two seasons and reached a regional final before losing to North Carolina last year.