Dec. 1, 2002

Recap?|? Final Stats

• Illinois senior Brian Cook started his 87th career game on Sunday vs. Western Illinois and with 17 points, recorded his 60th career double-digit performance.

• Cook also moved to 24th on the Illinois career scoring list with 1,166 points passing Kevin Turner's 1,150 points (1995-98) and Skip Thoren's 1,164 (1963-65).

• With an 85-56 win over Western Illinois, the Illini improved to 28-1 at home under head coach Bill Self and now have a 98-12 record vs. in-state opponents.

• Illinois' Roger Powell scored 15 points, his third double-digit performance in as many games this season.

• Illini guard Dee Brown had 10 assists vs. Western Illinois, the most since Frank Williams' 11 assists vs. Minnesota in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament in 2002.

• Western Illinois got within eight points in the second half with a 54-46 score, but the Illini went on a 31-10 run from there to end the game.

• Cook and Luther Head entered the lineup for the first time this season and each contributed with double-digit scoring totals (Head - 11, Cook - 17).

• Illinois shot 61.7 percent from the field, the highest percentage of the season and the best since shooting 62.2 percent vs. Minnesota in the Big Ten Tournament.

• The Illini outrebounded the Leathernecks, 34-24, marking the 56th game under Bill Self that Illinois held the rebounding advantage.

• Illinois held Western Illinois to only 34.0 percent shooting, which marks the third game this season that an Illinois opponent has failed to reach the 40 percent shooting mark.

• Illini fans honored Assembly Hall's 7 millionth ticket holder, Dale Trulock, on Sunday vs. Western Michigan. Illinois men's basketball has been a fixture at Assembly Hall since March 1963. In 2001-02, Ilinois sold out the entire season for the first time in 30 years.