March 18, 2011
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Photo Gallery 2
No. 9 Illinois 73, No. 8 UNLV 62
NCAA Tournament Second Round Postgame Notes
March 18, 2011 // BOK Center; Tulsa, Okla. // Attendance: 14,353
1. Illinois advances to the NCAA Round of 32 for the first time since 2006, where they'll face top-seeded Kansas at 7:40 p.m. CT (TNT).
2. With the win, Illinois improves to 39-29 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and 9-5 under Bruce Weber.
3. The Illini won in convincing fashion, trailing only once (8-7) and leading for the final 36:40 of play. The Orange and Blue led by 22 at halftime and by as many as 25 in the second half. The final margin of 11 was the closest UNLV got since midway through the first quarter.
4. Illinois broke the game open with a 15-0 first-half run that turned a slim 14-12 UI lead into a 29-12 advantage with 6:54 left in the first half. During the run, the Illini held UNLV scoreless for nearly seven minutes (13:34 to 6:29).
5. The Illini shot 59.6 percent from the field (28-of-47) for the game, their highest since shooting a school-record 70.5 percent against Northwestern on Jan. 6 and the fourth-highest for an Illinois team in the NCAA Tournament. It marks the 12th time Illinois has shot over 50 percent this season.
6. Illinois shot 53.8 percent from three-point range (7-of-13), marking the second-highest three-point shooting performance for the Illini in NCAA Tournament play behind only the 57.9 percent against Cincinnati on March 21, 2004.
7. The Orange and Blue pushed the tempo, scoring a season-high 18 points off fast breaks. Illinois equaled its previous season-high of 12 fast break points (Nov. 10 vs. Toledo) in the first half alone on Friday.
8. Senior Mike Davis had a big game, tying his season-high with 22 points on 7-of-13 shooting while also adding a game-high nine rebounds and five assists. Davis became the second player in school history with 900 career rebounds, finishing the night with 902.
9. Illinois shared the ball well, dishing out 21 assists on 28 field goals. Senior Demetri McCamey led the way with a game-high seven dimes to go along with his 17 points.
10. Sophomores Brandon Paul and D.J. Richardson produced big numbers for the Illini as well. Paul had eight points and a season-high eight rebounds, while Richardson hit 4-of-4 from the field and 2-of-2 from downtown for 10 points in just 16 minutes of action.
11. Freshman Crandall Head scored four points in 15 minutes of play. During the regular season, he averaged just 5.5 minutes per game. His 15 minutes were one shy of his career-high of 16 at Ohio State on Feb. 22.
12. Seniors Demetri McCamey and Mike Tisdale became Illinois' career leaders in games played. They have both played in 138 games during their UI careers, one more than previous record holders Dee Brown and James Augustine. Fellow senior Mike Davis is now tied with Brown and Augustine at 137.
13. Illinois improves to 20-13 on the season with the win. The Illini have won at least 20 games in seven of Weber's eight seasons at Illinois and in 11 of the last 12 seasons overall.
14. Weber and the Fighting Illini defeated former Illinois coach Lon Kruger of UNLV on Friday, and will face another former UI coach on Sunday in Kansas' Bill Self. Kruger coached at Illinois from 1997-2000 before Self took over from 2001-03. Weber then took over for the 2003-04 season after Self left to coach the Jayhawks.
