Nov. 22, 2005

Champaign, Ill. -

Illinois Men's Basketball Game Notes at South Padre Island Invitational in PDF Format
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FIGHTING ILLINI BASKETBALL
Games #4 & #5: #15ap/#14 Illinois (3-0) vs. Wichita State (3-0) & vs. TBA
South Padre Island Invitational
Nov. 25-26, 2005 •3:30 p.m. CT •CSTV (11/25) / Time TBA • WCIA-TV (11/26)
South Padre Island, Texas •SPI Convention Center (2,000)

On the Air
Television
CSTV: Carter Blackburn, play-by-play; Steve Lappas, expert analyst
WCIA: Dan Roan, play-by-play; Doug Altenberger, expert analyst

Radio
Illini Sports Network - 50 stations: Brian Barnhart, play-by-play; Tom Michael, expert analyst; and, Loren Tate, pregame/halftime/postgame interviews.

Probable Starters
#15/14 ILLINOIS (3-0, 0-0)
F - 42 Brian Randle (So.-r, 6-8, 215, 6.0 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 2.0 apg)
F - 40 James Augustine (Sr., 6-10, 235, 15.0 ppg, 19.0 rpg. 1.0 bpg)
C - 55 Shaun Pruitt (So., 6-10, 240, 6.7 ppg, 6.0 rpg)
G - 33 Rich McBride (Jr., 6-3, 205, 11.7 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 4.7 apg)
G - 11 Dee Brown (Sr., 6-0, 185, 17.7 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 3.7 apg)

Off The Bench ...
G - 2 Chris Hicks (So., 6-2, 190), 2.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg
G - 3 Chester Frazier (Fr., 6-2, 190, 3.0 ppg, 2.3, rpg, 3.3 apg)
G - 25 Calvin Brock (Fr.-r, 6-4, 185, 3.0 ppg, 1.0 rpg)
G - 31 Jamar Smith (Fr., 6-3, 175, 10.3 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 2.0 apg)
F - 34 C.J. Jackson (Fr., 6-8, 265)
F - 41 Warren Carter (Jr., 6-9, 210, 7.3 ppg, 4.7 rpg)
C - 44 Marcus Arnold (Jr.-r, 6-8, 245, 4.3 ppg, 2.3 rpg)

Illinois Head Coach Bruce Weber
Overall Record: 169-63/.728 (8th year)
At Illinois: 66-9/.880 (3rd year)
Big Ten: 28-4/.875
Vs. Wichita State: 9-1
Assistant Coaches: Wayne McClain (5th year), Jay Price (3rd year), Tracy Webster (2nd year)
Assistant to the Head Coach: Gary Nottingham (3rd year)
Trainer: Al Martindale (23rd year at Illinois)

Wichita State Coach: Mark Turgeon
Overall Record: 113-96 (8th year)
At Wichita State: 88-67 (6th year)
Vs. Illinois: 0-0
Assistant Coaches: Tad Boyle, Alvin Williamson, Mike Rohn

Series Notes: Wichita State
Illinois owns a 2-0 record against Wichita State. The Illini defeated the Shockers, 66-63, at the Chicago Stadium in 1969 and 70-57 at Bayamon, Puerto Rico in 1997. Former Illini Kyle Wilson lettered as a freshman in 2003 before trasferring to WSU.

Against possible Saturday opponents, Illinois is 1-1 vs. Austin Peay State, 2-0 against Delaware State, 3-0 vs. Kent State and has never faced Rutgers.

NCAA Experimental Rules in Effect for South Padre Island Invitational Games
The following three experimental rules will be in effect for the four South Padre Island Invitational games:
• The three-point line has been moved back one foot behind the normal line, creating a new distance of 20 feet, nine inches.
• The lane has been widened one foot on each side, serving as both the three-second lane and the free-throw lane.
• A restricted area arc has been placed in the lane, three feet from the center of the basket. Defenders cannot draw a player control foul inside of this restricted area arc.

Fightingillini.com to Include Live Webcasts of Illini Games at South Padre
As part of its all-access package, fightingillini.com will have live streaming video of the television broadcasts of Illinois' games at South Padre Island, Texas on Nov. 25 and Nov. 26. The CSTV broadcast of Illinois' game vs. Wichita State on Friday at 3:30 p.m. CT will be streamed on fightingillini.com, as well as WCIA-TV's broadcast of Illinois' game on Saturday (opponent and time to be determined). This will mark the first regular season live webcasts of Illini men's basketball games through fightingillini.com. The cost of the all-access package is $6.95 per month. Those wishing to subscribe can do so by signing up at www.fightingillini.com

Countdown to 1,000
Senior James Augustine is rapidly moving towards becoming the 40th 1,000-point scorer in Illinois history. He is currently 20 points shy of the milestone, ranking 40th on the career scoring chart with 980 points. Augustine looks to join Dee Brown on the list of current Illini to eclipse the 1,000-point marker. Brown scored his 1,000th point last season against Cincinnati (Dec. 31, 2004) and currently ranks 15th on the all-time scoring chart with 1,394 points.

Illini Through Three Games ...
• Dee Brown leads the team in scoring, averaging 17.7 ppg. He has scored in double figures each time out, with 19 points in the opener vs. South Dakota State, a season-high 20 vs. Texas-Pan American, and 14 vs. Texas Southern. Brown also leads the team with 11 three-pointers and eight steals.

• James Augustine is nearly averaging a double-double with 15 points and nine rebounds. Augustine recorded the 17th double-double of his career with 18 points and 14 rebounds vs. South Dakota State, then had 14 points and seven rebounds vs. Texas-Pan American, and 13 points and six rebounds vs. Texas Southern. Augustine's 14 rebounds vs. SDSU tied the second-highest total of his career.

•Augustine is shooting 70.8 percent from the field, having made 17-24 FGs. Augustine was 5-7 against SDSU, 6-8 vs. UTPA and 6-9 vs. Texas Southern. Augustine ranks as the Illini's all-time leader in field goal percentage, shooting 61.8 percent (377-610) during his career.

• Rich McBride leads the Illini with 14 assists and has just three turnovers, despite averaging over 26 minutes per game. McBride had a career-high eight assists vs. Texas-Pan American.

• McBride is averaging 11.7 ppg and is shooting a team-best 43.5 percent from 3-point range (10-23).

•Jamar Smith has come off the bench to average 10.3 ppg and is also shooting better than 40 percent from 3-point range (7-17, .412). He had a career-best 12 points vs. Texas Southern.

• Brown, McBride and Smith have accounted for 28 of Illinois' 29 three-pointers.

•Shaun Pruitt is averaging 6.7 points and is second on the team in rebounding, averaging six boards. Pruitt career highs of 11 points and nine rebounds in the opener vs. South Dakota State and had nine points and seven boards vs. Texas Southern.

•Warren Carter had career highs of 11 points and eight rebounds vs. Texas Southern, while Marcus Arnold scored a career-high 10 points against the Tigers.

Last Time Out: Texas Southern
Illinois won its 24th straight game at the Assembly Hall and its 41st consecutive non-conference home game, defeating Texas Southern 93-59 on Tuesday night. Illinois posted its highest point total since defeating Longwood 105-79 on Dec. 27, 2004. The Illini led by 16 points at halftime (46-30) and opened the second half with a 13-2 run to take a commanding lead. The Illini outscored TSU 33-6 over the first 12:54 of the second half to open up its biggest lead at 41 points (79-38). Illinois had five players finish in double figures for the first time this season. Dee Brown led the Illini in scoring for the third straight game with 14 points, while James Augustine had 13. Three Illini players posted career highs in scoring in Jamar Smith (12), Warren Carter (11) and Marcus Arnold (10).

Illini Shooting the Three
The 2004-05 Illini made a school-record 344 treys last season, an average of 8.8 per game, and attempted 877 treys, an average of 22.5 attempts per game. Though it's early in the 2005-06 season, the Illini guards have been filling it up once again behind the arc. The Illini have made 29 three-pointers, an average of 9.7 per game, and have taken 76 shots from behind the arc, an average of 25.3 per game. The Illini are shooting 38.2 percent from 3-point range so far this year, while last year's team shot 39.2 percent. Dee Brown, Rich McBride and Jamar Smith have accounted for 28 of Illinois' 29 treys this year (96.6 percent), while last year Dee Brown, Luther Head and Deron Williams accounted for 283 of Illinois' 344 treys (82.3 percent).

Brown Preseason Player of the Year Candidate
Illinois senior guard Dee Brown is the first Illini player to ever be named preseason All-American by the Associated Press, and is a preseason Wooden Award, Naismith Award and Oscar Robertson Award candidate. He is also on the preseason Playboy Magazine All-America team for the second time. Brown earned Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year honors for the second time in his career (also prior to the 2004 season). Illinois has had the Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year for each of the last six seasons (2001-Cory Bradford; 2002-Frank Williams; 2003-Brian Cook; 2004-Dee Brown; 2005-Deron Williams; 2006-Dee Brown).

*For complete set of Illinois men's basketball game notes, click on .pdf link at top of this page.