Box Score March 10, 2001
Box Score
Illini Wrap, Audio version
Illini Wrap, Video version
Big Ten Tourney Audio
By NANCY ARMOUR
AP Sports Writer
CHICAGO - First No. 2 Michigan State and now No. 4 Illinois. Nobody
seems to want the No. 1 NCAA seed.
Tom Coverdale had 17 points and Kirk Haston blocked Frank Williams'
last-second layup attempt Saturday as Indiana upset Illinois 58-56 in the
semifinals of the Big Ten tournament.
The Hoosiers (21-11) are in Sunday's tournament final after winning just one
tournament game the past three years. They'll play the winner of the Penn
State-Iowa semifinal for the tournament title - and the Big Ten's automatic bid
to the NCAA.
Illinois, the tournament's first seed, had a chance to lock up the No. 1
seed in the Midwest after No. 2 Michigan State lost to Penn State on Friday
night. All the Illini (24-7) had to do was advance to the tournament final for
the third straight year, where they'd face either unranked Iowa or unranked
Penn State.
Instead, the Illini put together one of their more sloppy and disorganized
efforts of the year. They shot less than 33 percent and had 12 turnovers. Cory
Bradford had nine points, but it was on 3-of-11 shooting. Sergio McClain missed
two free throws in the last 50 seconds and finished with two points.
And then there was Williams. He'd been near perfect Friday with a
season-high 11 assists and no turnovers in 30 minutes, and then followed it
with an impressive offensive display in the first half Saturday.
But he disappeared in the second half, not scoring until he made three free
throws with about five minutes to play. Even worse, he was totally out of
control in the closing minutes, when Illinois needed him most. In the final
2:18, he had a turnover, a bad pass and a wild shot.
Williams finished with 14 points on 5-of-16 shooting.
Indiana went scoreless over the final 4:16, giving Illinois a wide open shot
at the victory. Trailing 58-54, McClain was fouled with 49 seconds to go and
made the first shot.
He missed the second, but Cook got the rebound and Haston was whistled for
another foul on McClain. Illinois could have tied it up with a make, a miss and
a second chance, but McClain airballed his first shot. He made the second shot,
giving Indiana the ball back with 45 seconds left.
Jared Jeffries missed a short, running jumper with about 15 seconds left,
but he grabbed his own rebound and kicked it back outside to Dane Fife. It took
about two seconds before Illinois could foul anyone, and the first Hoosier they
could get to was Coverdale.
Coverdale missed both shots with 8.9 seconds left, and Williams eventually
came up with the rebound. He stumbled, regained control and drove the entire
length of the floor, putting up an off-balance layup with about 1.5 seconds
left.
But Haston came from his right hand and swatted the ball away as time
expired.
Haston finished with 16 points, three blocks and two steals. Jared Jeffries
had 10 points and seven rebounds.
The Illini looked like they might have an easy time with the Hoosiers early,
as Williams put on an offensive clinic. He scored nine points and had the
assist on Robert Archibald's three-point play as Illinois jumped out to a 12-6
lead.
But Coverdale was there to keep Indiana in the game. After Marcus Griffin's
hook shot with 8:56 left, Coverdale scored on a layup to start an 8-0 run that
got Indiana within 21-18 with 6:18 left.
In the second half, Coverdale hit a 3-pointer to spark another run. When
Jeffries grabbed the rebound off a Haston free throw miss and tipped it in with
14:24 left, it gave Indiana a 39-37 lead, its first of the game.
