Jan. 18, 2012
Game 19 Notes // #22/25 Illinois (15-3, 4-1) at Penn State (9-10, 1-5)
Jan. 19, 2012 // 9 pm ET/8 pm CT // University Park, Pa. // Jordan Center (15,261)
Complete Game Notes (PDF): Illinois | Penn State | Big Ten
Gameday Links: Watch | Listen | Gametracker | Twitter
Preview Interviews: Bertrand | Maniscalco | Paul | Richardson
TV: ESPN2 (also streamed at ESPN3.com) - Dave O'Brien, (Play-By-Play), Stephen Bardo (Analyst)
Radio: Illini Sports Network - Brian Barnhart (Play-By-Play), Jerry Hester (Analyst), Loren Tate (Reports)
Satellite Radio: Sirius - 135, XM - 193
Probable Starters (from the previous game)
Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. PPG RPG APG Other
G 13 Tracy Abrams 6-1 185 Fr. 2.5 2.4 1.6 18.9 mpg
G 1 D.J. Richardson 6-3 195 Jr. 13.0 2.9 1.9 40.7 3FG%
G 3 Brandon Paul 6-4 200 Jr. 13.8 4.7 3.2 1.6 spg
G 2 Joseph Bertrand 6-5 195 r-So. 6.8 2.3 1.1 62.4 FG%
C 12 Meyers Leonard 7-1 245 So. 13.0 7.8 1.4 2.1 bpg
Off the Bench
Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. PPG RPG APG Other
G 0 Sam Maniscalco 6-0 180 Gr. 9.9 2.4 2.9 83.8 FT%
F 15 Mike Shaw 6-8 230 Fr. 1.1 2.3 0.1 8.3 mpg
G/F 20 Myke Henry 6-6 230 Fr. 3.5 1.2 0.2 46.9 FG%
G/F 21 Devin Langford 6-7 200 Fr.
F/C 23 Ibby Djimde 6-8 250 Fr. 0.5 1.1 0.0 4.5 mpg
G 25 Jean Selus 6-2 195 Sr. 0.0 0.2 0.2 6 minutes
F/C 32 Nnanna Egwu 6-11 245 Fr. 2.2 1.8 0.3 0.9 bpg
F 42 Tyler Griffey 6-8 230 Jr. 5.4 3.7 0.6 26 off. reb.
G 44 Kevin Berardini 6-0 175 r-So. 0.0 0.0 0.0 4 minutes
Coaching Staff
Head Coach: Bruce Weber
Career Record: 311-143/.685 (14th year)
At Illinois: 208-89/.700 (9th year)
Big Ten: 87-54/.617
Associate Head Coach: Wayne McClain (11th year)
Assistant Coaches: Jay Price (9th year), Jerrance Howard (5th year)
Assistant to the Head Coach: Gary Nottingham (9th year)
Director of Basketball Operations: Sean Harrington (4th year)
Series Notes vs. Penn State
Series Record: Illinois leads 24-12
Last Season's Meetings: PSU 57, ILL 55 (1/11/11 // University Park, Pa.), ILL 68, PSU 51 (2/1/11 // Champaign, Ill.)
Series Streak: Illinois W-1
Record at University Park: Illinois leads 10-6
Series Streak at University Park: Penn State W-1
Weber vs. Penn State: 10-6
Opening Tip
Illinois returns to the court for the first time in nine days, playing at Penn State on Thursday evening. The Illini are currently alone atop the Big Ten standings with a 4-1 record. Illinois returned to the Top 25 on Monday after a three-week absence, checking in at No. 22 in the current Associated Press poll and No. 25 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll. The Illini have won three straight, the longest active streak among Big Ten teams and the UI's longest conference winning streak since winning its first three league games last season.
Illini in Happy Valley
Illinois is 10-6 all-time at University Park and 8-5 at the Bryce Jordan Center. Four of Illinois' last five wins in the building have been by double figures, while all five losses have been decided in the closing seconds. Illinois' five losses at the Jordan Center have been by a combined 10 points (average of 2.0 points).
Illinois has won five of its last eight games at the Jordan Center dating back to 2003, with the three losses decided by a total of just four points (one point in 2008 and 2009 and two points last year).
Paul Named National & Big Ten Player of the Week
Brandon Paul was an obvious choice for individual accolades following his historic performance in the win over No. 5 Ohio State last week. Paul has been named the Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association and Big Ten Player of the Week by the conference office. Here are 10 notes about Paul's night against the Buckeyes last Tuesday:
1. Paul's scored a career-high 43 points, the third-most in a game in school history and the most since Andy Kaufmann scored 46 vs. Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 1990.
2. Paul's 43 points equaled the second-highest single-game total in the NCAA this season behind only Creighton's Doug McDermott, who scored 44 points vs. Bradley on Jan. 7.
3. Paul's 43 points were the most by a Big Ten player in a game since Glenn Robinson scored 44 vs. Kansas in the 1994 Sweet 16. They were the most in a Big Ten Conference game since Robinson scored 49 vs. Illinois on March 13, 1994.
4. Paul made 8-of-10 from three-point range to match the Illinois record for most threes in a game. He shares the record with Dee Brown, Trent Meacham and Kevin Turner.
5. Paul was incredibly efficient in the game, hitting 11-of-15 (.733) field goals, 8-of-10 (.800) three-pointers and 13-of-15 (.867) from the line. With 43 points on just 15 field goal attempts, Paul is the first NCAA player in the past 16 seasons with 43+ points on 15 or fewer FGA.
6. Paul scored Illinois' final 15 points of the game over the last 2:40, outscoring Ohio State 15-8 down the stretch.
7. Paul also had a team-high eight rebounds and a career-high four blocks, including a key one late on Jared Sullinger with 30 seconds remaining. Over the past 10 seasons, the only other players with 40 points, eight rebounds and four blocks in a game are Al Thornton (2006-07) and Chris Kaman (2002-03).
8. The 43 points by Paul are the fourth-most ever scored against Ohio State and are the most against the Buckeyes since Central Michigan's Tommie Johnson had 45 on Jan. 2, 1987.
9. Paul's 43 points were more than the team total of five opponents that Ohio State has defeated this season.
10. Paul scored 28 points in the second half alone, more than any Illini player has scored in a full game this season.
Last Time Out
Illinois overcame its largest deficit of the season - 11 points - to defeat No. 5 Ohio State at the Assembly Hall on Jan. 10, earning its first victory over a top-five opponent since beating No. 5 Michigan State on Feb. 6, 2010.
The Illini trailed 48-37 early in the second half before going on a 9-0 run with baskets by four different players to cut the deficit to two. After the Buckeyes pushed the lead back to seven, Illinois then went on a 10-0 run to take a 57-54 lead with 10:49 remaining. Brandon Paul scored eight of 10 points during the UI surge. Ohio State would not go away, regaining a two-point lead with three minutes left.
That's when Paul took over, scoring the final 15 points for the Illini on a pair of 3-pointers and nine free throws. After hitting two free throws to tie the game, Paul's first three during his run gave the Illini a 69-66 lead with 2:02 to go. Following two more free throws, his second trey - and school-record tying eighth of the game - came with the shot clock expiring and OSU defender Aaron Craft blanketing him, putting the Illini ahead 74-70 with just 43 seconds left. He then hit five-of-six from the line in the final 22 seconds to close out the win.
Paul scored a career-high 43 points on the night, the third-highest single-game total in school history and the most by a Big Ten player in a league game in 18 years. Paul did more than just score, however, adding a game-high eight rebounds and career-high four blocked shots to his totals. Joining Paul in double figures were Meyers Leonard (14 points) and D.J. Richardson and Joseph Bertrand (10 each).
Good Start
Illinois is off to a 4-1 start or better in conference play for the third time under Coach Bruce Weber. Since 1980, the Illini have now started at least 4-1 in league play eight times. Illinois went on to finish in the top half of the final Big Ten standings on all previous seven occasions.
Close Games Going Illinois' Way
Following another victory that went down to the wire last week vs. Ohio State, Illinois is now 10-1 this season in games decided by single digits. Included in that total, the Orange and Blue are 6-1 in games decided by five points or less.
That is a welcome change from last season when Illinois could not get over the hump in a number of close contests, dropping eight games where the UI led, was tied, or trailed by one point in the final minute.
Illinois' six victories by five points or less tie the most in a season under Weber and the most since his 2006-07 squad also won six games by five or fewer. Following is a year-by-year look at the Illini in games decided by five points or less under Weber:
Season Record
2011-12 6-1
2010-11 2-7
2009-10 5-6
2008-09 4-4
2007-08 4-6
2006-07 6-2
2005-06 4-4
2004-05 2-2
2003-04 4-1
Five Facts on ...
Brandon Paul
1.Leads Illini in scoring on the season (13.8 ppg), and leads Big Ten in scoring in conference play (20.4 ppg).
2. Scored career-high 43 points last week vs. Ohio State (see page 2 for more details).
3.Scored in double figures in 11 of the last 12 games, including each of the last seven. Averaging 19.4 points (136) and 5.9 rebounds (41) over the last seven games.
4.Leads Illini in assists with 3.2 average.
5.Has made 90 trips to the free throw line this season, tied with Wisconsin's Jordan Taylor for the second-highest total among Big Ten guards behind Penn State's Tim Frazier (142 FTA).
D.J. Richardson
1.Tied for second on team in scoring with an average of 13.0 points.
2.Leads the Illini in 3-point shooting at 40.7 percent (44-108).
3.Average of 2.4 threes per game ranks third in Big Ten.
4.Increased his scoring average by 4.6 points over last year (8.4 ppg), when he was UI's fifth-leading scorer.
5.After a wrist injury limited his shooting vs. Northwestern and Nebraska, was back in double figures vs. Ohio State, finishing with 10 points while playing all 40 minutes.
Meyers Leonard
1.Leads the Illini and ranks third in the Big Ten in rebounding (7.8 rpg), and is tied for second on the team in scoring (13.0 ppg).
2.Ranks third in the Big Ten in field goal shooting at 59.9 percent (91-152).
3. Leads the conference in blocked shots, averaging 2.1 bpg (38).
4.Five double-doubles on the season, ranking third among Big Ten players.
5.Increased his scoring average by 10.9 points (2.1 ppg last year), second-best improvement in the Big Ten behind Penn State's Tim Frazier (+11.9 ppg).
Joseph Bertrand
1. Averaging 14.2 points (85) on 72.2 percent shooting (39-54) over the last six games.
2.Shooting 62.4 percent from the field on the season, and Big Ten-best 66.7 percent in league play (30-45).
3.Averaging 6.8 points on the year and is second on the Illini in scoring in Big Ten play, averaging 13.2 points.
4.Scored career-high 25 points Jan. 7 vs. Nebraska.
5.Made 12 consecutive shots in two-game stretch the first week of January (last four at Northwestern-1/4, first eight vs. Nebraska-1/7) after making 13 consecutive shots over two-game stretch the last week of December (all nine vs. Missouri-12/22, first four vs. Minnesota-12/27).
Sam Maniscalco
1.Fourth-leading UI scorer with average of 9.9 points.
2.Leads Illini with a 2.26 assist-to-turnover ratio (43-19).
3.Ranks fifth in the Big Ten in free throw shooting at 83.8 percent (31-37).
4.Third on the team in 3-point field goals with 21.
5.Missed last three games with ankle injury.
Tracy Abrams
1.Started last three games after starting first two games of his career.
2.Scored career-high eight points vs. Nebraska on Jan. 7.
3.Played a career-high 30 minutes at Northwestern on Jan. 4, and did not commit a turnover.
4.Grabbed 16 rebounds over the last five games.
5. First Illini true-freshman point guard to start his first career game since Dee Brown started the opener of the 2002-03 season.
Tyler Griffey
1.Averaging 5.4 points and 3.7 boards this year, more than tripling his scoring and rebounding averages from last season (1.6 ppg and 1.2 rpg in 2010-11).
2.Ranks second on the Illini with 26 offensive rebounds.
3.Has scored in double figures three times this year after totaling three double-figure scoring games over his first two seasons.
4.Illinois is 17-2 in games he has started during his career (13-2 this season, 4-0 in 2009-10).
5.Played 20 minutes vs. Nebraska on Jan. 7, his most action since the Cornell game on Dec. 19.
Leonard Improving at Historical Level
Meyers Leonard is quickly earning a reputation as one of the top centers in the country. His progression has been rapid when comparing the numbers from his freshman year to this season. Leonard has increased his scoring average by 10.9 points and his rebounding average by 6.6 boards. Those figures rank among the biggest improvements in school history from one season to the next:
Best UI Scoring Improvement (Avg.)
1. Rick Schmidt, 1974 +17.6 ppg (21.4-3.8)
2. Skip Thoren, 1964 +14.8 ppg (20.3-5.5)
3. Meyers Leonard, 2012 +10.9 ppg (13.0-2.1)
Best UI Rebounding Improvement (Avg.)
1. Skip Thoren, 1964 +8.0 rpg (13.8-5.8)
2. Meyers Leonard, 2012 +6.6 rpg (7.8-1.2)
3. Mike Davis, 2009 +6.3 rpg (8.1-1.8)
