Feb 25, 2004

Final Stats

By TODD DVORAK
Associated Press Writer

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) - Dee Brown took care of the offense. He let his Illinois teammates take care of the other end of the court.

Brown had 18 points and 10 assists while frustrating Iowa with his speed in the 23rd-ranked Illini's 78-59 victory Wednesday night.

Illinois (19-5, 10-3) held the Big Ten's top scoring team 14 points below its season average in its seventh straight win.

"I really didn't play that great on defense," Brown said. "But as a team we came out tonight with a defensive mentality. Coach has been trying to instill that in us and I think it's beginning to wear off."

No need to ask the Hawkeyes (14-10, 7-6).

Iowa, playing its first game in six days, missed 10 of its first 13 shots and finished shooting 39.6 percent from the field, including 31 percent from 3-point range.

Jeff Horner led Iowa with 20 points and Greg Brunner added 18 points and seven rebounds.

But the Hawkeyes missed too many opportunities in losing to Illinois for the sixth time in eight games. The Hawkeyes missed at least three dunks, bobbled and lost several rebounds, had 11 turnovers and shot just 61 percent from the free throw line.

Iowa coach Steve Alford resisted blaming the layoff for the lackluster performance.

"For whatever reason it was pretty poor shooting in the first half and it didn't get much better in the second," he said. "I thought they were very, very good tonight and we weren't. I think you end up getting a lopsided score like that."

"But as a team we came out tonight with a defensive mentality. Coach has been trying to instill that in us and I think it's beginning to wear off." - Dee Brown

Luther Head had 16 points and 10 rebounds for Illinois, while Deron Williams added 13 points, including three 3-pointers in the second half each just before the shot clock expired. Roger Powell had 12 and the Illini shot 58 percent, including 47 percent on 3-pointers.

Brown, who was 7-of-14 from the field, was dangerous outside and inside and his 3-pointer with 12:47 left in the second half put Illinois in control with a 55-39 lead.

Unable to crack the relentless Illinois defense, the Hawkeyes never cut the lead below double figures the rest of the way.

Deron Williams denies Iowa's Pierre Pierce from driving to the basket.

Illinois, which came into the game with the Big Ten's third best scoring defense, shut down Iowa's outside shooters and slowed its transition game - essentially challenging the Hawkeyes' smaller frontcourt to score inside.

"We have a talented offensive team and I think we have an offensive mentality," Illinois coach Bruce Weber said. "They thought they could just outscore people. But they found out, especially on the road they couldn't do that.

"They (Iowa) didn't get many open looks, and that's probably the key. I thought our defense kind of frustrated them at times."

The victory keeps Illinois in second place in the Big Ten, one-half game behind Michigan State.

Brown had 11 points in the first half as Illinois shot 53 percent in taking a 39-28 lead. The Illini closed the half with a 14-5 run.