49ers’ Dreams Stolen : West Regional: Illinois freshman Keene makes key defensive play on Cal State Long Beach senior Harris as Illini win, 75-72.

Illinois freshman Richard Keene said he thought about the matchup all week. Guarding Cal State Long Beach’s Lucious Harris, one of the top seniors in the country, wouldn’t be easy.

Harris taught the youngster a thing or two, scoring 27 points and grabbing six rebounds Thursday at the NCAA West Regional. But Keene had the final say in the Illini’s 75-72 victory at the Huntsman Center.

Having squandered an eight-point second-half advantage, Illinois led, 71-70, with less than a minute to play when Harris moved to the top of the key for a pass from Brian Camper.

A step behind, Keene followed the 6-foot-5 Harris down the lane. The 6-6 Keene slipped between Harris and the basket, and as Harris leaped with 55 seconds to go, Keene stripped him of the ball and Illinois recovered.

“I was trying to protect the ball, but I carried it too far away from my body and Keene slapped it away,” Harris said. “Basically, I just handed it to him.”

It was the fifth turnover for Harris and a key stop for Illinois. After a timeout, Keene beat a 49er double team 18 feet out and passed to backcourt mate Rennie Clemens at the top of the lane. Clemens took the ball in stride, reached the rim and scored over Long Beach’s Bryon Russell with 16.3 seconds to play.

Without calling time out, Long Beach pushed the ball up the floor and the players looked confused. Camper passed to Harris, 20 feet to the right of the basket with six seconds to play. Coach Seth Greenberg wanted a timeout, but Harris squared up to the basket with Keene and Clemens on him. A 20-foot fall-away jump shot by the all-time Big West scoring leader hit the back of the rim and bounced out with 1.8 seconds to play.

“The play went bust,” explained Harris, who was supposed to shoot from the free-throw line but didn’t get the help from Chris Tower that he wanted.

Keene, guarding Harris on the final shot, said he knew he was in for some work when the game began.

“I wanted to keep the ball away from Harris as much as I could,” Keene said. “He’s just so quick (in shooting) off the dribble you have to play catch-up.”

On Saturday sixth-seeded Illinois (19-12) will play third-seeded Vanderbilt (27-5), which defeated Boise State, 92-72.

Just about everyone in the crowd of 11,493 knew Harris would get the call with less than a minute to play. “Keene made one hell of a play,” Greenberg said of the steal. “If we’re in a position to win a ballgame, I’d be foolish not to put the ball in the hands of Lucious Harris.”

Long Beach, making its first tournament appearance since 1977, played well enough to win. But an old nemesis, offensive impatience, during the final 2 1/2 minutes of the first half proved costly.

With the 49ers ahead, 33-26, Harris stole the ball from reserve guard T.J. Wheeler and got it to Camper. Only five seconds had elapsed on the shot clock, but Camper pulled up for a three-pointer and missed, then fouled Illinois’ Andy Kaufmann at the other end.

Kaufmann made both free throws and center Deon Thomas made a layup at the 1:01 mark after another rushed three-point attempt by the 49ers, this time by forward Rod Hannibal.

Thomas also two free throws with 32 seconds to play, and Illinois was back in contention, trailing at halftime, 33-32.

Until then, the 49ers, who averaged 16 turnovers a game during the season, exhibited markedly improved ball control. Long Beach spread its offense and guard Jeff Rogers frequently sought to get the ball in low to post players.

But the 49ers’ big men had trouble all day. Russell made three of eight shots and blew three layups. Backup center Mike Atkinson was called for charging twice in the lane and traveled on a layup. Terrance O’Kelley, whose last-second jump shot in the Big West tournament beat Nevada Las Vegas and knocked the Rebels from the NCAA tournament, played only 10 minutes and did not score.

Tower played despite a stress fracture in his left foot but scored only four of his 17 points from close range.