Dec. 16, 2001
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Last Time Out : Western Illinois
Illinois held Western Illinois scoreless for the first nine and a half minutes of the game in jumping out to a 13-0 lead, watched as WIU closed to within 10 points at half, then exploded for a 98-62 win over the Leathernecks. Illinois shot 65 percent from the field in the second half, making 22 of 34 shots in running up 59 points. Four Illini scored in double figures led by Frank Williams with 17 and followed by Luther Head with 14, Cory Bradford with 13 and Brian Cook and Roger Powell with 12 each. The Illini used 26 assists to help score 33 baskets during the game.
BUZZER BEATERS ...
Illinois will be playing its fourth in-state opponent Dec. 18 when the Illini host the Illinois State Redbirds ... The Illini have defeated Eastern Illinois (93-53), Southern Illinois (75-72) and Western Illinois (98-62) before taking on ISU and Loyola-Chicago on Dec. 29. Illinois will play a sixth in-state school Feb. 23 at Northwestern ... Illinois is 95-12 all-time against in-state schools in non-confernence play ... Illinois' last loss to a non-Big Ten in-state school came Nov. 29, 1990 to Illinois-Chicago, a streak of 23 straight wins ... Since 1974, Illinois is 40-3 against non-Big Ten in-state schools.
Williams Running the Show
Illini point guard Frank Williams turned in two memorable performances last week. In Illinois' come-from-behind win over Arkansas, Williams finished with a team-high 25 points, team-high seven assists, eight rebounds, and team-high three steals. 18 of his points came at the free throw line, where he shot 18-of-24. The 18 made free throws for Williams is just one short of the Illinois school record, while his 24 free throw attempts set a new school record. Of his three steals, none was more important than when Williams stripped an Arkansas guard in the backcourt with four seconds remaining to preserve the Illini victory. Against Arizona, Williams led Illinois' late rally, cutting a 19-point deficit down to four in the final minute. Williams tied his career high with 30 points against the Wildcats, connecting on 9-of-18 field goals. He heated up in the second half of both contests, scoring 21 of his 25 vs. Arkansas and 22 of his 30 vs. Arizona in the second half. For the week, Williams averaged 27.5 points, 5.5 assists, five rebounds, and two steals per game.
Comeback Kids
Illinois had a habit of making great comebacks last year, and this year's team is well on the way to earning the title of "Comeback Kids" once again. Only nine games into the season, the Illini have fought back from two double-digit deficits to post victories. The Illini fell behind by 13 points against Penn, 32-45 with :47 left in the first half, before rallying for a 78-71 win. Illinois trailed by as many as 12 points against Arkansas Dec. 8, 36-48 with 17:49 remaining in the game, before mounting another comeback and finishing with a 94-91 victory.
Getting to the Line ... And Making it Count
Through 10 games, Illinois has made more free throws (235) than its opponent has attempted (221) and has outscored opponents from the line in nine of the 10 games. Illinois has outscored its opponent by a combined score of 235-137 at the line, an average of 9.8 points more per game. The Illini made 37 free throws against Arkansas last week, just one shy of the school record, in 49 attempts, which is three short of the all-time UI record. As a team, Illinois is shooting 75.3 percent from the line this season, which is on pace to break the school record for free throw percentage. The current record is 74.4 percent by the 1996-97 team.
Krupalija Named MVP in Vegas
Damir Krupalija was named the MVP of the Las Vegas Invitational Tournament after an outstanding week of play. Despite coming off the bench and averaging just 21 minutes per game during the Invite, Krupalija averaged 10.5 points and 8.0 rebounds in the four games to earn MVP honors. Krupalija was in double figures against Eastern Illinois and Georgia Tech, scoring 12 points in both games. He nearly recorded a double-double against Penn, finishing with 9 points and 11 rebounds, and was just shy of a double-double again in the championship game against Southern Illinois, tallying 9 points and 9 rebounds. His 11 rebounds against Penn are the most by an Illini player this season. For the tournament, Krupalija shot 67 percent from the field.
Tournament Tested
Illinois has already earned four victories this season over teams that participated in last year's NCAA Tournament in Gonzaga, Eastern Illinois, Georgia Tech and Arkansas. Maryland, who advanced to the Final Four last season, and Arizona, who was national runner-up last year, were the fifth and sixth NCAA Tournament teams, respectively, that the Illini have faced this year. Illinois faces its seventh NCAA tournament team in Missouri on Dec. 22.
For Openers
Getting to the Line: In six of 10 games this season, Illinois has made at least as many free throws as its opponent has attempted, and has outscored opponents from the line in nine of the 10 games. Illinois has outscored its opponent by a combined score of 235-137 at the line, an average of 9.8 points more per game. Illinois has made 235 free throws, while opponents have shot a total of 221 free throws so far this season.
Home Court Streakin': Illinois enters the Illinois State game on Dec. 18 with a 22-game winning streak at the Assembly Hall, the longest home-winning streak by the Illini since winning 28 straight from Feb. 11, 1988 to Jan. 15, 1990. Last year, Illinois completed its first unbeaten home season since the 1988-89 season (17-0). The current 22-game winning streak ranks ninth nationally.
Illinois' 14-game winning streak in conference games at the Assembly Hall ranks 10th in the nation entering the 2001-02 season.
Sharing the Spotlight: Illinois is one of just three schools to have both its men's basketball and football teams ranked among the Top 10 in the nation. The Illini football team is ranked No. 7 in both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today Coaches' polls this week, while the basketball squad is currently ranked No. 10 in the AP poll and No. 7 in the coaches' poll. Florida (No. 5 football, No. 5/3 basketball) and Maryland (No. 6 football, No. 2/2 basketball) join Illinois among the elite in both sports.
Dee-Fence ... Dee-Fence: Through 10 games, the Illini have held opponents to 41.3 percent field goal shooting, including 34 percent from three-point range. The Illini are helping force 17.2 turnovers per game, while turning it over 14.6 times per game. Illinois has averaged 6.8 steals, and have shown unselfish play with an average of 17.7 assists per game.
Starting High: Preseason pollsters placed the Fighting Illini as high as they've ever been entering a season. The USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll started Illinois at No. 2 in the preseason poll, and the Associated Press had the Illini at No. 3. The two previous high marks for preseason rankings came in 1962 and 1984 when the AP had Illinois No. 2 in the preseason. The Sporting News ranked Illinois No. 1 in the preseason while Sports Illustrated had the Illini No. 2.
Williams Preseason Honors: Guard Frank Williams was named to the Associated Press Preseason All-America First-Team Nov. 6. Williams was joined on the team by Duke's Jason Williams, Missouri's Kareem Rush, Stanford's Casey Jacobsen and Kentucky's Tayshaun Prince. The last Illinois player to earn First-Team All-America honors from AP in the postseason was Andy Phillip in 1943.
Select Company: Bill Self became the first coach in 22 years, just the sixth all-time in the Big Ten, and second Illini coach to win a Big Ten championship in his first season as coach at a conference school. Minnesota's Bill Musselman is the only coach to win an outright title in his first season in 1972. Other league rookies earning hardware are Iowa's Sam Barry in 1923, Michigan's George Veekner in 1929, Illinois' Doug Mills in 1937 and Purdue's Lee Rose in 1979.
More Select Company: When Illinois defeated Iowa on Feb. 24, 2001, Bill Self became just the fourth 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 three coaches are Indiana's Bob Knight in 1972, Iowa's Tom Davis in 1987 and Penn State's Jerry Dunn in 1996.
Illini Milestone: Illinois became the 18th Div. I program to reach 1,400 all-time victories with the Feb. 17, 2001 win at Indiana.
20th 20-win Season: Last season, Illinois posted its 20th 20-win season in Illini basketball history. It also marked the second-earliest 20th win in school history (by calendar date). The earliest was Feb. 11, 1989 when the Illini defeated Northwestern. That team went on to win a school-record 31 games.
Wins, Wins and More Wins: Illinois' 27 victories during the 2000-01 season are the second-most wins in a season in school history. The school record for victories in a season is 31 in 1989.
Defending Home Court: After four home games this season, Illinois opponents are shooting just .367 (81-221) from the field, .314 (22-70) from three-point range and .563 (45-80) from the free throw line.
In Illinois' 12 homes games at the Assembly Hall during the 2000-01 season, opponents shot a combined 34.6 percent (240-693 FG) from the field and 29.4 percent (74-252 3FG) from three-point range.
High-Scoring: After nine games this season, Illinois is averaging 84.4 points per game and shooting 46.0 percent from the field.
Last year, Illinois averaged 77.9 points per game, the highest Illini scoring average since 1994 when Illinois averaged 84.0 points per game. In Big Ten games, the Illini ranked second in the league in scoring with an average of 75.3 points.
Very Offensive: In Big Ten play last season, the Illini led the league in three-point field goal shooting (.390), ranked second in scoring margin (+11.7), second in scoring (75.3 ppg) and third in field-goal shooting (.465). Illinois also ranked second in the league in assists (14.88) and third in offensive rebounds (12.63) and three-point field goals made (7.00 avg.).
Self Defense: For the 2000-01 season, opponents shot just 38.6 percent from the field. That was the lowest opponent shooting percentage since the 1955-56 season when Illini opponents shot 35.2 percent from the field. Illinois finished third in the nation in field-goal percentage defense, behind only Kansas and Holy Cross.
In league play, the Illini were second in the Big Ten in field-goal percentage defense (.387) while ranking second in blocked shots (5.19), second in steals (7.44) and fourth in scoring defense (63.6).
Board Work: Through 10 games this season, the Illini are averaging 40.6 rebounds per game, an average of 7.1 more boards than their opponent. Illinois' average of 40.0 rebounds per game in 2001 was the team's highest average since 1979 when the Illini averaged 41.3 rebounds per game. Illinois' rebounding margin (6.7) ranked 13th in the nation last year.
Wayne McClain Joins Ilini Staff
Legendary Illinois high school coach Wayne McClain joins the Illini as an assistant coach for the 2001-02 season. McClain, the father of former Illini player Sergio, replaces Rob Judson who was named head coach at Northern Illinois University on March 6.
Williams Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year
Junior Frank Williams was named Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year by both the media and coaches for 2001-02, as well as preseason First-Team All-Big Ten. Last year, Williams was the first Illini player to earn conference player of the year honors since Bruce Douglas was named co-Big Ten Player of the Year (with Purdue's Jim Rowinski) in 1984. Illinois' last league MVP before Williams in 2001 was Jim Dawson in 1967.
National Exposure
For the 2001-02 season, Illinois is scheduled to play at least 11, with the possibility of 13 regular-season games on national television. The Illini are scheduled to appear at least seven times on ESPN, at least three times on CBS and once on FOX Sports Net.
Bradford Holds NCAA 3-Point Record
Illinois junior guard Cory Bradford holds the NCAA record for consecutive games with a three-pointer with a trey in 88 straight games. He broke the previous record of 73 games set by Wally Lancaster of Virginia Tech from 1986-89 with his first trey against Arizona on Dec. 16, 2000.
Bradford also has started every game of his Illini career and enters the Arkansas game with a school-record streak of 107 starts for the Illini.
Bradford has scored 1,424 career points, 10th on the Illini career scoring list after passing Kendall Gill and Jerry Hester with 23 points Saturday night.
Bradford's streak of consecutive starts set a school record against Northwestern on Feb. 3, 2001, passing Richard Keene's previous record streak of 85 consecutive games started in an Illini career.
Top 10 Streak Alive
Illinois has been ranked in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Top 10 for 25 consecutive polls, the longest stretch of Top 10 action since a string of 28 straight polls in the Top 10 in the 1989 and 1990 seasons.
Illini Basketball is a Hot Ticket
For the first time in Assembly Hall history, the Fighting Illini sold out in season tickets with 16,500 sold. Of the six games not on the student season package (over the semester break), three sold out and one other is within 50 of selling out. Every Big Ten game is sold out for 2002. The eight sellouts last season were the most at the Assembly Hall since 1989.
Williams, Cook on Wooden List
Illinois' Brian Cook and Frank Williams are among 50 players on the list of preseason candidates for the 2002 Wooden Award All-American team. Williams, the 2001 Big Ten Player of the Year and a member of the 2001 Wooden All-America team, is on the list for the second consecutive season. Cook is making his first appearance on the list.
Four Sign With Illini in November
Four future Fighting Illini players signed national letters of intent to attend Illinois during the fall signing period in November. Dee Brown, a 6-foot guard from Proviso East High School in Maywood, Ill., Deron Williams, a 6-3 guard from The Colony, Texas, Kyle Wilson, a 6-8 forward from Plano, Texas and James Augustine, a 6-10 forward from Lincoln-Way Central High School in New Lenox, Ill., all signed with the Illini. Bob Gibbons' All-Star Report ranks the Illini class No. 4 in the nation. The Illini have one scholarship remaining to issue in the spring.
