Dec. 30, 2004

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LAS VEGAS (AP) - Luther Head scored 18 points and shot 5-for-9 from 3-point range to lead No. 1 Illinois past Northwestern State 69-51 in the Las Vegas Holiday Classic on Thursday night.

Deron Williams added 14 points and six assists for the Illini (13-0), who never trailed in the teams' second meeting in their history. They last played in the 2001 NCAA tournament, and the top-seeded Illini beat the Demons 93-54 in Dayton, Ohio.

This is the best start for Illinois since 1988-89, when it began 17-0. The Illini have only trailed for 21 minutes, 32 seconds of 520 total minutes played this season.

Jermaine Spencer, Clifton Lee and Jermaine Wallace each had seven points to lead Northwestern State (5-7), which had 20 turnovers that Illinois turned into 23 points.

Northwestern State tied it three times early in the first half, the last at 18 with 11:37 left, but Illinois went on a 17-2 run and built its largest lead of the half.

The Demons cut the lead to 35-26 with 2:58 left in the half, but Illinois was ahead 42-28 at halftime, capped by Williams' 3-pointer from the right arc at the buzzer.

Illinois went 16-for-32 from the field in the first half, while the Demons were 11-of-29 for 37.9 percent.

Illinois' largest lead of the game came at 69-47 with 3:30 left. The Illini shot 26-for-63 from the field for 41.3 percent, while the Demons were 19-of-53 for 35.8 percent.

James Augustine had 12 points and 10 rebounds, and Dee Brown scored 11 points for the Illini.