Illinois Enjoys Payback Time, 81-73

From the moment the first Arizona player went crashing to the floor, it was clear this was going to be No. 5 Illinois’ game.

Cory Bradford set an NCAA record with a three-point basket in his 74th consecutive game, and the Illini wore down No. 7 Arizona en route to an 81-73 victory Saturday at the United Center in Chicago, avenging their loss in the Maui Invitational title game last month.

“There’s no question the team that played the hardest for 40 minutes is the team that won,” said Arizona Coach Lute Olson, back on the bench after missing last weekend’s game to be with his wife, Bobbi, who is undergoing treatment for ovarian cancer.

“I think in the last 20 minutes we played extremely well, but the game is not played over 20 minutes. They were tougher both physically and mentally than we were in the first half.”

The Illini (8-2) played tough the whole game. Frank Williams made nine of 10 free throws in the final 3:27 to seal the game--despite a strained muscle in his right shoulder that hurt so bad his teammates couldn’t even pat him on the back.

Three Illinois players fouled out and Lucas Johnson played with four fouls, including an intentional one for a second-half scuffle with Richard Jefferson. Robert Archibald, one of the Illini who fouled out, also was called for an intentional foul.

In all, Illinois had 27 fouls.

“The rules committee wanted to come back to being a game of finesse, not a game of hand-to-hand combat,” Olson said. “I would say this was hand-to-hand combat. But if that’s the way it’s being played, that’s the way you better play.”

Just like last month, when Jason Gardner had to make two free throws with 11 seconds left to preserve Arizona’s 79-76 victory at Maui, the victory didn’t come easy for Illinois.

After trailing by as many as nine points in the second half, Arizona (5-3) cut the Illinois lead to 78-73 with 16 seconds left on two free throws by Gardner and a basket by Gilbert Arenas. But Arenas missed the free throw for the three-point play, and he and Gardner both missed three-point attempts in the final 15 seconds.

The Illini didn’t make a basket after Marcus Griffin’s reverse with 3:52 left, but it didn’t matter as they went 15 of 20 from the line. Williams accounted for nine of those points.

No. 6 Wake Forest 75, Georgia 57--The Demon Deacons (8-0) won their 13th game in a row dating to last season’s NIT championship run, matching the longest streak in Dave Odom’s 12 years as coach. It is also the nation’s second-longest streak to Michigan State’s 19.

Once again, Wake Forest relied on its defense, holding Georgia (6-4) to a season-low 35% shooting and forcing 17 turnovers at Winston-Salem, N.C. The Demon Deacons scored 26 points off the miscues by the Bulldogs.

“Our defense does have a tendency to grind people down,” Odom said. “It just kind of brings them to a halt.”

No. 8 Florida 85, Gonzaga 71--The Bulldogs couldn’t handle 6-8 junior center Udonis Haslem in the Orange Bowl Classic at Sunrise, Fla. Haslem tied his career high with 27 points and added 10 rebounds to help the Gators improve to 6-1.

Haslem, the team’s second-leading scorer, took only three shots in the first half, but touched the ball on nearly every second-half possession, scoring 16 points on six-of-nine shooting. In all, he was eight of 11 from the field and made 11 of 14 free throws.

Gonzaga (5-3) went more than eight minutes in the first half without a basket and had only six points at the 11:45 mark.

No. 10 Kansas 92, Tulsa 69--Eric Chenowith, at 7-1 a half-foot taller than the Golden Hurricane’s biggest starter, scored 24 points and had 14 rebounds to lead the Jayhawks at Lawrence, Kan.

Tulsa (6-3) was helpless against the Jayhawks (9-1). All but 13 of Kansas’ 49 first-half points were scored by the front-court trio of Chenowith (16) and forwards Nick Collison (14) and Drew Gooden (6).

No. 12 Syracuse 69, Wisconsin Green Bay 57--The Orangemen, playing their first game in 11 days, had an easy time at the Carrier Dome, handing the Phoenix their fifth consecutive loss.

Syracuse (9-0), which put the game away with an 11-0 run in the closing minutes, finished with 11 blocks, seven steals and only six turnovers while forcing Wisconsin Green Bay (3-7) into 15 turnovers.

No. 16 Wisconsin 55, Wisconsin Milwaukee 47--The Badgers (7-1) extended their winning streak to seven games and improved to 5-0 under interim Coach Brad Soderberg.

But the Badgers went scoreless for the first seven minutes of the second half at Madison, Wis., allowing the Panthers (5-4) back into the game. They trailed, 45-44, with just under three minutes left. Wisconsin then scored eight consecutive points to put the game away.

No. 17 Cincinnati 90, Nevada Las Vegas 72--The Bearcats (5-1) spoiled the debut of new Rebel Coach Max Good in the opening round of the Las Vegas Showdown at the Thomas & Mack Center.

Good replaced Bill Bayno, who was fired this week after the NCAA put UNLV (3-5) on four years’ probation. Good was in his second season as an assistant to Bayno.

No. 18 Alabama 94, North Texas 55--The Crimson Tide (7-0) scored 35 points off turnovers at Mobile, Ala. Forward Erwin Dudley made eight of nine three-point shots to score 19 points and had nine rebounds for Alabama.

No. 19 Oklahoma 103, Coppin State 49--The Sooners opened the game with a 15-0 run and never looked back at Norman, Okla.

Oklahoma (7-1) extended the floor with a swarming man-to-man defense that created 17 first-half turnovers and numerous fastbreak baskets.

When Ronnie Griffin finished a three-on-one break at the 8:12 mark, the Sooners led the Eagles (4-4), 30-12.

No. 22 Iowa 99, Missouri 94--Ryan Hogan made four free throws down the stretch at Iowa City as the Hawkeyes won in double overtime to improve to 8-0, their best start since the 1992-93 team opened with 11 consecutive wins.

A three-point play by Wesley Stokes with 20.8 seconds left pulled the Tigers (6-2) to within 95-93 before Hogan was fouled on the ensuing inbounds play.

Hogan, who missed two free throws with 30.8 seconds left in the first overtime, made both shots to give the Hawkeyes a 97-93 lead with 20.4 seconds left.

Kareem Rush and Clarence Gilbert each scored a career-high 32 points for Missouri, which had its three-game winning streak end.

No. 24 Georgetown 123, Howard 90--The Hoyas overcame a 41-point performance by Ron Williamson at the MCI Center in Washington to improve to 9-0, their best start since going 14-0 in 1989-90.

Williamson’s point total, on 13-of-22 shooting, including 11 of 17 three-point shots, was the most ever scored against Georgetown. It surpassed the 36 points scored by Billy Owens in a 95-76 Syracuse victory on Jan. 27, 1990.

In all, the Bison (2-8) made 18 of 30 three-point shots.

OTHER GAMES

New Hampshire (2-6), which made only nine of its first 26 shots and had only one basket during an 8:27 span midway through the first half, lost to North Carolina State, 103-59, at Raleigh, N.C. The Wolfpack (6-3) made 54% of its shots, including 13 of 24 three-point attempts. . . . Dayton (5-3) missed only three of its first 30 free throws and was 29 of 34 from the line in defeating Saint Louis (5-3), 76-73, at St. Louis.

Collis Temple III was one of five Louisiana State players to score in double figures as the Tigers improved to 6-0 with an 84-57 victory over New Orleans 5-3) at Baton Rouge, La. The game followed ceremonies to retire Shaquille O’Neal’s No. 33 LSU jersey. . . . Norman Richardson and Jason Hernandez combined to score the final 12 points for Hofstra (6-2) in an 86-80 victory over St. John’s at Uniondale, N.Y., the Pride’s first win in 20 games against the Red Storm (4-5).

Purdue (5-2) used a 23-0 run in the second half to defeat Valparaiso (7-3), 73-46, in the Boilermaker Blockbuster at Indianapolis. The run lasted more than 11 minutes. . . . Indiana (7-3) rallied from a 17-point second-half deficit to defeat Charlotte (6-2), 76-72, at Bloomington, Ind.

Mekeli Wesley made two free throws with seven seconds left at Provo, Utah, to give Brigham Young (5-2) a 69-67 victory Utah State (6-2). . . . Greg Clark made a 16-foot jump shot with 3.2 seconds left to give Washington (4-3) a 63-61 victory over Florida International (2-7) at Miami. . . . Utah defeated Washington State (5-4), 87-63, at Salt Lake City. The Utes (5-4) made 39 of 48 free throws. The teams combined to commit 57 fouls and shoot 80 free throws.

Deandre Moore made an off-balance five-foot shot with 2.1 seconds left, lifting San Diego State (5-3) to a 64-62 victory over Arizona State at San Diego. The Sun Devils (5-2), playing their first game in two weeks, had their five-game winning streak end. . . . Adam Harrington made a three-point shot and added two free throws with 38 seconds left in overtime as Auburn (8-3) defeated Oregon, 101-97, in the opening round of the Las Vegas Showdown. Bryan Bracey led the Ducks (6-1) with 31 points and 11 rebounds.