Feb. 26, 2011

Recap |  Box Score |  Photo Gallery 1  |  Photo Gallery 2 

Illinois 81, Iowa 68
Feb. 26, 2011
Assembly Hall, Champaign, Ill.
Attendance: 16,618

1. With seven assists tonight, senior Demetri McCamey became the second player in Big Ten history with 1,600+ points and 700+ assists in a career. McCamey now has 1,645 points and 706 assists to join former Michigan Wolverine Gary Grant in the exclusive club. McCamey is the NCAA's active career assists leader.

2. Illinois' senior trio of Mike Davis, Mike Tisdale and Demetri McCamey combined for 63 of the team's 81 points and shot 25-of-36 from the field (69.4 percent). Tisdale hit 10-of-14 from the field for a game-high 25 points, Davis was 8-of-12 for 20 points and McCamey hit 7-of-11 for 18 points. Fellow senior Bill Cole struggled from the field (1-of-8) and had just 2 points, but did contribute six rebounds and three steals.

3. Mike Tisdale had a season-high 25 points on 10-of-14 shooting, including 2-of-3 from behind the arc, to go along with five rebounds. His previous season high was 18 at Western Michigan on 11/27/10 and his previous Big Ten high this season was 16 at Penn State on Jan. 11.

4. Mike Davis nearly notched his fifth double-double of the season with 20 points and a game-high nine rebounds.

5. Illinois shot 55.4 percent from the field (31-of-56), marking its second straight game over 50 percent and the highest since shooting a school-record 70.5 percent against Northwestern on Jan. 6 on this season.

6. Illinois led 36-31 at the break after a half of runs. The Illini started the game with a 10-0 run, but Iowa countered with an 11-1 run to tie the game at 13. The Orange and Blue then responded with a 16-2 run to take their largest lead, 29-15, with 5:30 left before Iowa closed within five after a 16-7 run to end the half.

7. Illinois never trailed in the game. After jumping out to a 10-0 lead, Iowa battled back to tie the game once, 13-13, with 12:27 left in the first half. A three-pointer by D.J. Richardson 11:09 before the half gave the Illini the lead for good.

8. With tonight's win, Illinois has won six consecutive games vs. Iowa, its longest winning streak ever against the Hawkeyes. The previous long was five straight over Iowa from Jan. 5, 1963 through Feb. 23, 1965.

9. The Illini now won 10 straight over Iowa at Assembly Hall dating back to the 1999-2000 season. Overall, Illinois has won 16 of the last 20 in the series and Coach Bruce Weber is now 12-2 all-time against Iowa.

10. Illinois is now 13-2 at Assembly Hall this season and is 103-23 at home under Bruce Weber.

11. Illinois improves to 18-11 overall and 8-8 in the Big Ten, tied for fifth place with Penn State.

12. Tonight's win was witnessed by a sellout crowd of 16,618, the seventh sellout this season at Assembly Hall.