Dec 22, 2001

Box Score

POST-GAME COMMENTS:
Coach Bill Self - VIDEO | AUDIO
Cory Bradford, Frank Williams and Brian Cook - VIDEO | AUDIO

ST. LOUIS (AP) - Illinois' preseason All-America selection got the best of Missouri's.

Frank Williams scored 16 of his 22 points in the second half, outplaying Missouri counterpart Kareem Rush, as No. 9 Illinois beat No. 8 Missouri 72-61 on Saturday night.

"It was like I was Superman," Williams said. "I got the feeling. I got in the groove and I kept getting the ball from my teammates."

Williams, who scored on a variety of shots off drives and added three steals, helped Illinois (10-2) beat Missouri (9-2) for the second straight season in the neutral-court series. Last year, he scored six of his 18 points in overtime.

"Frank is so confident, sometimes you just hold your breath when he shoots," coach Bill Self said. "Tonight, he elevated his game. The key to him scoring was he was able to get to the paint."

Brian Cook added 12 points and eight rebounds for the Illini, who beat a Top 10 team for the first time in three tries this season after losing to Arizona and Maryland. Illinois, which shot 50 percent overall, led 33-31 at the break.

Rush, the preseason Big 12 player of the year, had his second straight sub-par game with 16 points on 6-for-15 shooting. Rush, double-teamed and in foul trouble all night, followed a 4-for-18 performance in a loss at home to Iowa a week ago.

"Some games are going to be like that," Rush said. "Recently, there have been too many, but hopefully we'll find a way to get out of this slump."

Rush had 10 points in the first half but didn't score in the first 11:15 of the second half. In the second half, perhaps frustrated, he took a number of ill-advised shots.

"I thought I was in the groove early on and sitting down definitely hurt," Rush said. "I wanted to come out in the second half and establish myself and the shots weren't falling.

Missouri's other main threat, Clarence Gilbert, also has had a pair of poor games. Gilbert was 3-for-12 and had nine points, almost 10 below his average, after going 1-for-11 against Iowa.

"Tonight our defense did a very good job of making Missouri play out of character," Self said. "We made them be jump-shooters. They had to take an awful lot of off-balance 3s."

Those two dragged down Missouri's shooting percentage for the second straight game. After shooting a season-worst 33.3 percent against Iowa, Missouri was held to 36 percent by Illinois.

"I'm disappointed we didn't play better," coach Quin Snyder said. "I thought we'd play better, but that's how we played."

Missouri was 8-for-31 from 3-point range, following 5-for-29 numbers against Iowa.

"I thought our guys looked bad as individuals," Snyder said. "They're not selfish, but they looked that way."

Williams scored six of his points in a two-minute stretch of the second half, pulling up in the lane, shooting over 6-foot-9 Arthur Johnson and squirming for room on the baseline to give Illinois a 55-48 lead with 5:42 left.

"That's our offense," Self said. "All those post-ups you saw are designed for him."

Williams, averaging 24 points the past five games on nearly 50 percent shooting, helped finish off Missouri with a driving, twisting shot with 1:49 to play that put Illinois up 62-53. He finished 9-for-19.

Sixth-man Rickey Paulding added 14 points for Missouri, and Johnson had nine of his 11 points and eight of his team-high nine rebounds in the second half after playing only four minutes before the break.

This was the first game with both teams ranked since 1995, when No. 14 Illinois beat No. 15 Missouri.

"This means a lot to me," Self said. "My wife said I can now eat (at) Christmas."

By R.B. FALLSTROM
AP Sports Writer