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| U.SportsSunday, March 9, 2008 6:30 PM CDT |
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Illini seniors enjoy another golden moment
Chief look-alike makes way through stands
CHAMPAIGN -- Even Chief Illiniwek showed up Saturday to say goodbye to a regular season that has been anything but regular. | Big Ten scores, stats | Photo gallery A halftime appearance by a Chief Illiniwek look-alike, who strolled in full Indian regalia along the aisle halfway up the Assembly Hall, whipped the crowd into a loud frenzy and caused one of the biggest stirs of the season. An omen? A spell being cast? Some witch doctor magic being conjured for a Senior Day occasion? Maybe. There sure seemed to be a positive vibe that lingered for the second half, when Trent Meacham scored 18 of his game-high 21 points to lead Illinois to a 67-58 Big Ten Conference victory over Minnesota. Calvin Brock added 17 points and Brian Randle’s 12 rebounds helped Illinois to a 45-19 edge on the glass. It ended up being a happy day for seniors Randle, Shaun Pruitt and Chris Hicks, who played their final home games. “It means so much,” said Pruitt, who had seven points and eight rebounds. “We’ve had a tough season. I haven’t been a part of a loss on Senior Day since I’ve been here. I’m just glad Trent stepped up and Calvin stepped up. It means a lot to go out with a win the last time I’ll ever be in the Assembly Hall.” While defeating the Golden Gophers for the 19th consecutive time, Illinois (13-18, 5-13) will move on to the Big Ten Tournament on Thursday in Indianapolis, where as the No. 10 seed, it will play the No. 7 seed at 1:30 p.m. The pairings will be finalized today, but Iowa looks to be the most probable opponent. “Whoever it is, we’re going to prepare and give it everything we have and try to make that run and get to the championship game,” Randle said. Illinois led 27-26 at halftime and coach Bruce Weber said he thought about the various buzzwords he could write on the message board. In the end, though, he settled for something pretty simple. “My whole message was that it comes down to playing with some enthusiasm and emotion,” Weber said. “The crowd got into it and our defensive effort was much better in the second half. “Shaun fought (Spencer) Tollackson in the post, and Brian Randle had a great effort defending Dan Coleman. He scored two (points) at their place and four here. Then Chester (Frazier) gutted it out until he couldn’t go anymore.” Frazier left the game with 4:38 to go when a knee injury. At the time, Illinois led 49-47 and Frazier had been fouled and was heading to the free throw line. But when he limped to the bench, Weber inserted Meacham. Frazier is a 51-percent free throw shooter. Meacham is an 81-percent free throw shooter. Meacham hit both free throws, then was fouled again. This time he hit one of two and Illinois had a 52-47 lead. And after Coleman hit two free throws for Minnesota, Meacham nailed a 3-pointer to give the Illini a little breathing room, 55-49. A rebound basket by Brock made it 57-49 and two free throws by Demetri McCamey with just under one minute to play increased Illinois’ lead to 59-49. The Illini were able to withstand a barrage of three late 3-pointers by Minnesota and walk-on Hicks ended the game by swishing a long 3-pointer before the buzzer. Weber said he apologized to Minnesota coach Tubby Smith for the unnecessary basket. “I don’t like to rub it in but I explained to Tubby that he was our senior walkon,” Weber said. “Tubby said, ‘Man, he’s a good shooter.’ ” Blake Hoffarber hit four 3-pointers and led the Gophers with 14 points. Lawrence McKenzie and Lawrence Westbrook added 10 apiece. The Gophers finish Smith’s first regular season as head coach with an 18-12 overall record, 8-10 in the league. E-mail this story | Print this story | Search archives | RSS Show comments |  Hide comments | Hide comments on all stories |
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Spanky wrote on Mar 9, 2008 7:18 PM:
Spanky wrote on Mar 9, 2008 10:50 AM:
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