Illinois Big Ten Tournament Guide
March 10, 2004 | Men's Basketball
March 10, 2004
Illinois Men's Basketball Notes-Big Ten Tournament in PDF Format
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Illinois Men's Basketball Bios-Big Ten Tournament in PDF FormatDownload Free Acrobat Reader
Illinois Men's Basketball Game Recaps-Big Ten Tournament in PDF FormatDownload Free Acrobat Reader
Illinois 2003-04 Schedule/Results
11-22 Western Illinois W, 94-66 (1-0)
11-26 Mercer W, 93-61 (2-0)
11-29 at Temple (The Palestra) W, 75-60 (3-0)
12-2 vs. #10 North Carolina @ L, 81-88 (3-1)
12-6 vs. Arkansas (Chicago) W, 84-61 (4-1)
12-9 vs. Providence * L, 51-70 (4-2)
12-11 Maryland-Eastern Shore W, 85-43 (5-2)
12-13 Memphis W, 74-64 (6-2)
12-23 vs. #11 Missouri (St. Louis) W, 71-70 (7-2)
12-30 vs. Illinois-Chicago (Chicago) W, 75-60 (8-2)
1-3 Illinois State W, 80-73, OT (9-2)
1-7 Ohio State W, 85-63 (10-2, 1-0)
1-10 #24 Purdue L, 54-58 (10-3, 1-1)
1-14 at Northwestern L, 60-70 (10-4, 1-2)
1-17 Iowa W, 88-82 (11-4, 2-2)
1-21 Penn State W, 80-37 (12-4, 3-2)
1-24 at #21 Wisconsin L, 56-76 (12-5, 3-3)
1-31 Michigan W, 67-52 (13-5, 4-3)
2-3 at Indiana W, 51-49 (14-5, 5-3)
2-8 at Minnesota W, 79-69 (15-5, 6-3)
2-10 Michigan State W, 75-51 (16-5, 7-3)
2-18 #12 Wisconsin W, 65-57 (17-5, 8-3)
2-21 at Penn State W, 66-58 (18-5, 9-3)
2-25 at Iowa W, 78-59 (19-5, 10-3)
2-28 Northwestern W, 66-56 (20-5, 11-3)
3-3 at Purdue W, 81-79, OT (21-5, 12-3)
3-7 at Ohio State W, 64-63 (22-5, 13-3)
(Associated Press rankings)
@ = ACC/Big Ten Challenge (Greensboro, N.C.)
* = Jimmy V Classic (Madison Square Garden)
#12ap/13 ILLINOIS (22-5, 13-3)
Probable Starters
F - 40 James Augustine (So., 6-10, 225, 9.4 ppg, 7.4 rpg)
F - 43 Roger Powell (Jr., 6-6, 220, 11.8 ppg, 5.0 rpg)
G - 4 Luther Head (Jr., 6-3, 175, 10.7 ppg, 3.6 rpg)
G - 5 Deron Williams (So., 6-3, 210, 13.9 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 6.1 apg)
G - 11 Dee Brown (So., 6-0, 175, 13.1 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 4.6 apg)
Off The Bench ...
C - 1 Aaron Spears (Fr.-r, 6-9, 260, 1.3 ppg, 0.7 rpg)
G - 25 Jerrance Howard (Sr.-r, 6-1, 200, 1.5 ppg, 0.5 rpg)
G - 33 Rich McBride (Fr., 6-3, 210, 3.2 ppg, 1.1 rpg)
F - 34 Fred Nkemdi (Jr., 6-6, 235, 0.0 ppg, 1.0 rpg)
F - 41 Warren Carter (Fr., 6-9, 205, 1.5 ppg, 0.8 rpg)
F - 42 Brian Randle (Fr., 6-8, 200, 3.2 ppg, 2.6 rpg)
C - 45 Nick Smith (Jr.-r, 7-2, 240, 7.6 ppg, 3.3 rpg)
C - 50 Jack Ingram (Jr.-r, 6-10, 240, 2.0 ppg, 2.1 rpg)
Illinois Head Coach Bruce Weber
Overall Record: 125-59/.679 (6th year)
At Illinois: 22-5/.815 (1st year)
Big Ten: 13-3/.813
Big Ten Tournament: N/A
Assistant Coaches: Chris Lowery (1st year), Wayne McClain (3rd year), Jay Price (1st year)
Assistant to the head coach: Gary Nottingham (1st year)
Trainer: Al Martindale (21st year at Illinois)
Illini Streaks
* The 64-63 victory over Ohio State on March 7 gives Illinois its first outright Big Ten Conference title since 1952. The dramatic 81-79 overtime victory at Purdue on March 3 clinched a share of the Big Ten Championship, Illinois' third league title in the last four seasons and fourth in the last seven seasons. Illinois won its final 10 games of the regular season, including four of the last five on the road, to claim the title.
* Illinois' 10-game winning streak is the longest by any Big Ten team this season. It is also Illinois' longest winning streak since the 1989-90 season when Illinois won its first 11 games.
* Among the 10 highest-rated conferences in the RPI, Illinois' 10-game winning streak ranks as the second-longest current streak behind St. Joseph's of the Atlantic 10 (27 games).
* Illinois' 10-game conference winning streak is its longest since 1955 and 1956 when the Illini won 13 straight spanning the final three Big Ten games in 1955 and the first 10 Big Ten games in 1956.
* Illinois won its last six Big Ten road games, its longest road winning streak since 1955 and 1956 when the Illini also won six straight spanning the final two Big Ten road games in 1955 and the first four Big Ten road games in 1956.
* A victory at Iowa Feb. 25 marked Illinois' 10th Big Ten win of the season, the fifth-straight year the Illini reached double figures in conference wins.
* A victory over Northwestern Feb. 28 marked Illinois' 20th win on the year, as the Illini recorded its fifth straight 20-win season, which is also its seventh in the last eight years and 23rd all-time.
* Illinois went undefeated in the month of February, winning all seven of its games. This marked Illinois' first perfect February in 50 years, since the 1954 Illini also went 7-0 in the month of February.
* Bruce Weber is just the sixth coach in the Big Ten since 1951 (when Michigan State joined the league) to defeat every other conference team in his first season. The other five coaches to accomplish this feat were Indiana's Bob Knight in 1972, Iowa's Tom Davis in 1987, Penn State's Jerry Dunn in 1996, Illinois' Bill Self in 2001 and Wisconsin's Bo Ryan in 2002.
* Illinois is the only Big Ten team this season to defeat all four conference opponents it played just once. This is the third time in seven seasons (since inception of Big Ten Tournament) that the Illini have swept the four "single" games. The previous two times came in 1998 and 2001, when the Illini went on to win shares of the Big Ten title.
Weber Wins Big Ten Title in First Season
With the win over Ohio State on March 7, Bruce Weber's Illini claimed sole possession of the conference title. He becomes just the third Big Ten coach to win an outright league title in his first season along with Wisconsin's Guy Lowman in 1918 and Minnesota's Bill Musselman in 1972.
Weber is the 11th coach in Big Ten history to win at least a share of the conference title in his first season. He is the third Illini rookie coach to win the league, following Doug Mills in 1937 and Bill Self in 2001.
Four Illini Earn All-Big Ten Honors
Four Fighting Illini earned All-Big Ten honors this season by both the coaches and media. Sophomore guard Deron Williams earned First-Team status, sophomore guard Dee Brown was named to the Second-Team, and, sophomore center James Augustine and junior forward Roger Powell both earned Honorable-Mention honors.
Big Ten Tournament Notes...
* Illinois enters the Big Ten Tournament as a No. 1 seed for the second time in tournament history. The Illini also earned the top seed in 2001 after tying Michigan State for the regular-season title.
* Illinois has the most all-time Big Ten Tournament wins (11) and the best all-time Big Ten Tournament winning percentage (.688, 11-5).
* Illinois is the only school to advance to the Big Ten Tournament semifinals in each of the six previous tournaments.
* Iowa and Michigan are the only two schools Illinois has not faced in the Big Ten Tournament. As the No. 4 and 5 seeds, both are potential matchups for the Illini should Illinois advance to the semifinals.
Quick Shots
Illinois leads the Big Ten in scoring at 73.3 points per game, after leading the league in scoring each of the last three seasons ... Illinois has shot 50 percent or better from the field in six of the last eight games ... In the last five games of the regular season, Dee Brown is averaging 19.0 points, 5.6 rebounds, 4.6 assists and is shooting 55 percent from the field (35-64) and 52 percent from 3-point range (17-33) ...The Illini have six players averaging between 7.6 and 13.9 points per game, including four starters in double figures ... The Illini have had at least five players score in double figures five times this season ... Illinois players rank ninth (Williams), 15th (Brown), 20th (Powell) and 27th (Head) in the Big Ten in scoring ... Seven different players have led the Illini in scoring this season and eight different players have led the team in rebounding ... The Illini lead the Big Ten in assists (17.0 apg) ...James Augustine has posted seven double-doubles in 2003-04 ... Deron Williams (147 total, 6.1 avg.) and Dee Brown (124 total, 4.6 avg.) rank first and second, respectively, in assists in the Big Ten ... Illinois ranks second in the league in field goal percentage (.470) and third in defensive field-goal percentage (.414) ... James Augustine has won the opening tip in 25 of 27 games (all but vs. Providence and at Penn State) this season ... Illinois' 43-point win over Penn State Jan. 21 was its largest margin of victory in a Big Ten game since 1956, and the third-largest Big Ten win in school history ... Penn State shot just 21 percent (13-62) against the Illini on Jan. 21, marking the lowest field goal percentage in Assembly Hall history ... The Illini defeated Minnesota 79-69 on Feb. 8 to mark Illinois' 11th straight victory over the Gophers, which is the longest current winning streak by any Big Ten team over a conference opponent. The next closest active streak is Ohio State's 10 straight wins over Northwetsern ... With victories at Indiana (Feb. 3) and at Minnesota (Feb. 8), and at Purdue (March 3) and Ohio State (March 7), Illinois is the only Big Ten team to win two road games in the same week twice during conference play ... Illinois forced Wisconsin into 17 turnovers (a season high) Feb. 18 after the Badgers entered the game leading the nation at just 10.0 turnovers per game ...Illinois recorded road victories at Indiana, Iowa and Purdue in the same season for the first time since 1937.
Williams Joins Elite Company
With an average of 6.12 assists per game, Illini sophomore Deron Williams led the Big Ten in assists in conference play for the second straight year after finishing first as a freshman with 4.8 assists per game. A First-Team All-Big Ten selection, Williams is the first player to top the conference in back-to-back seasons since Michigan State's Mateen Cleaves was the league-leader in three straight campaigns from 1998-2000. Williams also became just the third Big Ten player ever to lead the league in assists in each of his first two seasons, joining Michigan State's Magic Johnson (1978-79) and Illinois' Bruce Douglas (1983-84).
Last Time Out
Illinois wrapped up its first outright Big Ten Championship since 1952 and won its 10th-straight game with a thrilling 64-63 victory at Ohio State Sunday in the regular-season finale. The Illini built a 17-point lead in the second half only to see the Buckeyes catch fire and move to within one point on Tony Stockman's 3-pointer with 6.2 seconds remaining. Following a missed free throw, OSU's Brandon Fuss-Cheatham worked the ball upcourt but lost control of the ball as time expired. Dee Brown led the Illini with 18 points, while Deron Williams had 14 points and six assists and Luther Head added 13 points.
Home Cookin'
Illinois is 51-2 (.962) at the Assembly Hall over the last four years, with the only losses coming to Michigan State on Feb. 3, 2002 and to Purdue on Jan. 10, 2004 ... The Boilermakers broke a 23-game Illini winning streak at the Hall that at the time ranked fourth in the nation ... Illinois is 63-3 (.955) at the Assembly Hall over the past five seasons ...The Illini have also won 31 in a row at the Assembly Hall against non-conference opponents ... Illinois has won 35 of its last 37 (.946) Big Ten games at the Assembly Hall ... Below is a look at Illinois' home record the past five seasons:
Year Overall Big Ten 2003-04 12-1 7-1 2002-03 14-0 7-0 2001-02 13-1 7-1 2000-01 12-0 8-0 1999-2000 12-1 7-1 Total 63-3 (.955) 36-3 (.923)
Williams Finds His Name Among League's Best as First-Team All-Big Ten
Deron Williams was rewarded for his outstanding season by being named to the All-Big Ten First-Team. Williams returned from a double jaw fracture in December after missing three games to lead the Illini in scoring and lead the Big Ten in assists for the second-consecutive season.
In Illinois' win over Wisconsin Feb. 18, Williams led all scorers with a career-high 31 points to help pull the Illini closer to the top of the Big Ten standings. He shot 9-of-18 from the field against the Badgers, which included a career-high five 3-pointers and career-best 8-for-8 shooting from the foul line.
In the March 3 victory at Purdue, Williams recorded his third double-double of the season with 16 points and 10 assists. Williams has claimed the Big Ten assists crown for the second straight year, becoming just the third player in league history to lead the conference in assists in each of his first two seasons, following Michigan State's Magic Johnson and Illinois career-leader Bruce Douglas.
In a win over Iowa Jan. 17, Williams scored 17 points, grabbed four rebounds and handed out four assists. He followed that performance with 12 points and eight assists in a win over Penn State Jan. 21. In Illinois' win over Michigan (Jan. 31), Williams scored 15 and led the team with five rebounds and five assists. He then erupted for 12 second-half points and had a game-high six assists in a win at Indiana (Feb. 3).
Williams recorded his second career double-double at Minnesota Feb. 8, scoring a team-high 19 points and dishing out a career-high 11 assists. He followed that with 15 points and six assists in the win over Michigan State Feb. 10. Williams has scored in double figures in 10 consecutive games with 12 points vs. Penn State (Feb. 21), 13 points vs. Iowa (Feb. 25) and 13 points vs. Northwestern (Feb. 28). Williams added seven assists and six boards against the Hawkeyes and had a game-high eight assists and six rebounds vs. the Wildcats.
The sophomore missed three games (Memphis, Missouri and Illinois-Chicago) due to a fractured jaw that occurred Dec. 11 against Maryland-Eastern Shore after running into a screen early in the second half. Williams had surgery on Dec. 12 to repair the double fracture and made a successful return to the court Jan. 3 vs. Illinois State. With his jaw still wired shut and making it difficult to breath, Illinois coaches hoped to get Williams a maximum of 18-20 minutes of playing time. But he defied those odds, coming off the bench to play 34 minutes. Williams fueled the Illini comeback against ISU, leading the team with 20 points, including four 3-pointers. He also had four rebounds and three assists in his first game-action in nearly one month.
Williams has been turning heads with his sensational play during his sophomore season. He leads the team and ranks ninth in the Big Ten in scoring (13.9 ppg) and has scored in double figures in 19 of 24 games. His scoring average so far is more than double his freshman average of 6.3 points. He scored a then-career-high 22 points vs. North Carolina (Dec. 2) and topped that with his 31-point in the win over Wisconsin (Feb. 18). Williams is shooting over 41 percent from the field (117-283) and leads the team in 3-point field goal percentage at 38.8 percent (52-134). While his scoring has improved dramatically, Williams remains an unselfish player with the ball in his hands, leading the Big Ten with 6.12 assists per game. He is also shooting 83.9 percent from the free-throw line, making 47-of-56. Williams had a streak of 26 consecutive free throws come to and end vs. Penn State on Feb. 21.
What Can Brown Do For You?
With apologies to UPS, sophomore guard Dee Brown, nicknamed the "One-Man Fast Break," has delivered a solid second season for the Illini, earning All-Big Ten Second-Team honors. Brown is second on the team and 15th in the Big Ten in scoring at 13.1 points, while leading the team in steals (38) and ranking second in the league in assists (4.6 avg.). He's also third on the team in rebounding at 3.9 per game.
Brown was named to the preseason All-Big Ten squad by both the media and coaches and was the preseason Player of the Year by the media. Wisconsin's Devin Harris was the preseason player of the year as voted by the coaches. Brown was also named to the 12-man Playboy Magazine All-America squad and was one of 50 players on the Wooden Award All-America preseason watch list. Brown is the fourth-consecutive Illini to earn league preseason player of the year honors following Cory Bradford in 2001, Frank Williams in 2002 and Brian Cook in 2003.
Brown has been on a scoring tear the past five games, averaging 19.0 points, 5.6 rebounds and 4.6 assists, while shooting 52 percent (17-33) from 3-point range.
Brown erupted for a season-high 24 points vs. Penn State on Feb. 21, just one point shy of his career high. He made 8-13 from the field, including 6-10 from 3-point range. Brown's six treys were a career high and tied the most 3-pointers by a Big Ten player this season.
Brown showcased his all-around game in a win at Iowa Feb. 25. He scored 18 points and dished out a season-high 10 assists to record his first career double-double, while also pulling down seven boards.
He then scored a game-high 20 points vs. Northwestern Feb. 28. He made 7-of-10 shots, including 5-for-7 from 3-point land.
Brown had 15 points and tied his career high with seven rebounds in the March 3 win at Purdue, and followed with a team-high 18 points and six boards in the victory over Ohio State March 7.
Brown stands among the Big Ten's Top 10 players in four categories, ranking second with 4.6 assists per game, third with an assist/turnover ratio of 2.21, seventh with 2.1 three-pointers per game and 10th with 1.4 steals per game. He has scored in double figures in 12 of his last 17 outings entering postseason play.
Brown has had a season-high four steals vs. UIC (Dec. 30), Ohio State (Jan. 7) and Wisconsin (Feb. 18). He has made at least four treys in six games this year, highlighted by his career-high six threes vs. Penn State (Feb. 21).
Last year, he earned second-team All-Big Ten honors from the media and third-team honors from the coaches, and earned a spot on the first-ever Big Ten All-Freshman team. Brown was second on the team in scoring, averaging 12.0 points. He led the Big Ten in assists (all games) with 4.97 per game and also led the league with an assist/turnover ratio of 2.56. One of the quickest guards in America, Brown's 1.78 steals per game led the team and ranked third in the Big Ten.
In Big Ten Conference games only, Brown totaled 76 assists with only 25 turnovers, leading the conference with an assist/turnover ratio of 3.04 in league play.
Air Rog Takes Off
Junior Roger Powell is third on the team in scoring and second in rebounding, averaging 11.8 points and 5.0 boards. He ranks third in the Big Ten in field goal percentage, shooting 60.6 percent from the field (129-213), and is second on the team with 62 offensive rebounds. Powell earned All-Big Ten Honorable-Mention honors in 2004.
Powell recorded the first double-double of his Illinois career against Mercer on Nov. 26, scoring 16 points and grabbing a career-high 10 rebounds. He followed up that performance than with another double-double in his next outing vs. Temple. Powell scored 19 points and matched his career high with 10 boards. He then scored 20 points against North Carolina Dec. 2.
Powell has had some of his best games in Big Ten play, reaching double figures in eight of 16 conference games, including three of the last five. He had 11 points vs. Ohio State (Jan. 7), 20 points vs. Iowa (Jan. 17), 16 points vs. Penn State (Jan. 21), a season-high 24 points at Wisconsin (Jan. 24), 15 points at Indiana (Feb. 3), 10 points at Penn State (Feb. 21), 12 points at Iowa (Feb. 25) and 13 points vs. Northwestern (Feb. 28). Powell has scored in double figures 15 times this season.
Last year in Big Ten play, Powell led the league in field-goal shooting at 64.1 percent and was named to the Big Ten All-Tournament Team after helping the Illini to the title.
Augustine Scores and Rebounds
Another member of the heralded Illini sophomore class is James Augustine. Augustine, named Honorable-Mention All-Big Ten, is averaging 9.4 points and team-leading 7.4 rebounds per game. His rebounding average ranks fourth in the Big Ten, and he ranks second in the Big Ten in field-goal shooting at 63.6 percent (98-154). Augustine ranks fifth in the league in offensive rebounds with 2.7 per game and third in blocked shots at 1.3 per game.
Augustine has scored at least nine points in 18 games, highlighted by a career-high 21 points vs. Memphis Dec. 13. He has had at least nine boards in 11 games, with a career-high 14 against Northwestern Jan. 14, and has led the team in rebounding 12 times. Augustine has recorded seven double-doubles on the season, most recently vs. Michigan State on Feb. 10 (16 pts-11 reb).
Last year as a freshman, Augustine averaged 7.0 points while shooting 58 percent from the field. He was second on the team behind Brian Cook and 13th in the Big Ten in rebounding, averaging 5.8 boards. He was also 13th in the league in blocked shots. In Big Ten play only, Augustine ranked third in field-goal shooting at 58.6 percent. He was named to the first-ever Big Ten All-Freshman squad in 2003.
"Chainsaw" Strengthens UI Frontcourt
Nick Smith, a 7-foot-2-inch junior, is Illinois' first player off the bench and is averaging 7.6 points this season. He is fifth on the team with 3.3 rebounds per game and is shooting 81.7 percent from the free-throw line (49-60).
He has scored in double figures in 10 games, with a career-high 22 points in a win over Ohio State Jan. 7. Smith had a perfect shooting day, hitting all six of his field goal attempts, including a 3-pointer, and 9-of-9 shooting from the free throw line. Smith also had a career-high in rebounds against the Buckeyes with nine boards.
In the Jan. 17 win over Iowa, Smith scored 18 points, handed out four assists and made all 10 of his free-throw attempts.
In a win over Northwestern (Feb. 28), Smith scored 14 points, hitting 7-10 from the field.
Smith has made a habit of coming through in crunch time in a number of Illinois' victories this season. He scored of eight of 12 points in overtime Wednesday night, helping Illinois to a share of the Big Ten title in a win over Purdue. Smith hit a pair of 3-pointers and also added a pair of free throws in the overtime.
In a win at Indiana on Feb. 3, Smith hit a jumper with 3:28 remaining to give Illinois its first lead of the game. Then, with the game tied at 49-49, Smith hit a baseline jumper with 2:41 left for the game-winning basket. He also made a key defensive play at the end with the Illini up by two, blocking a 3-point attempt by IU's Bracey Wright with six seconds left.
Smith scored 14 points to help lead the Illini to a come-from-behind win over Illinois State on Jan 3. Smith was huge in the clutch, scoring 12 of his 14 points in the final eight minutes of the game and overtime. He shot a perfect 8-of-8 from the line, which included a pair of free throws with :19 left to send the game into overtime.
Smith also came up big and the end of Illinois' win over Missouri Dec. 23. He recorded an assist on James Augustine's layup that gave the Illini a 69-67 lead with under one minute to play and then came up with a steal on Missouri's next possession. Smith finished the game with six points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Last year, he put up some impressive numbers off the bench in Big Ten play. In 16 conference games, Smith shot 67.3 percent (33-49) from the field, made 4-of-6 treys, and shot 90.5 percent (19-21) from the free-throw line. Smith averaged 5.9 points and 2.9 rebounds in the league while averaging 18.8 minutes per game. He led the Illini and ranked seventh in the Big Ten with 38 blocked shots. Smith was Illinois' top free throw shooter, making 38-of-44 from the line for 86.4 percent on the season.
Head Heating Up
Junior Luther Head has been a consistent scorer this season, ranking fourth on the team with 10.7 points per game. He has scored at least nine points in 17 of 23 games, with 12 games in double figures. The Illini are 17-1 in games Head has started.
He scored 16 points in his first start of the year vs. Maryland-Eastern Shore, had 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting vs. UIC, and scored 15 points against Illinois State.
Head made four-of-five shots, including three 3-pointers, and scored 13 points in the win over Iowa Jan. 17. He grabbed a career-high nine rebounds to go along with eight points in the win over Penn State Jan. 21.
Head led all scorers with 18 points in an Illini victory over Michigan Jan. 31, hitting five-of-eight three point attempts. He also led all scorers with 17 points, making five three-pointers, in the win over Michigan State Feb. 10.
Head scored 14 points while nailing four treys at Penn State (Feb. 21) and had 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting and a career-high 10 rebounds at Iowa on Feb. 25, recording his first career double-double.
March 3 at Purdue, Head tied his career high with 19 points, none bigger than his game-winning putback with nine-tenths of a second left in overtime that gave Illinois a share of the Big Ten championship. He also added a career-high eight assists against the Boilermakers.
* For complete Illinois Big Ten Tournament Guide, click on the .pdf links at the top of this page.
