Williams Is Difference for Illinois

Illinois’ preseason All-American selection got the best of Missouri’s.

Frank Williams scored 16 of his 22 points in the second half, outplaying Missouri counterpart Kareem Rush, as No. 9 Illinois beat No. 8 Missouri, 72-61, on Saturday night at St. Louis.

“It was like I was Superman,” Williams said. “I got the feeling. I got in the groove and I kept getting the ball from my teammates.”

Williams, who scored on a variety of shots off drives and had three steals, helped Illinois (10-2) defeat Missouri (9-2) for the second consecutive season in the neutral-court series. Last year, he scored six of his 18 points in overtime.

“Frank is so confident, sometimes you just hold your breath when he shoots,” Coach Bill Self said. “Tonight, he elevated his game. The key to him scoring was he was able to get to the paint.”

Brian Cook had 12 points and eight rebounds for the Illini, who defeated a Top 10 team for the first time in three tries this season after losing to Arizona and Maryland.

Rush had his second consecutive sub-par game with 16 points on six-for-15 shooting. Rush, double-teamed and in foul trouble all night, followed a four-for-18 performance in a loss at home to Iowa a week ago.

“Some games are going to be like that,” Rush said. “Recently, there have been too many, but hopefully we’ll find a way to get out of this slump.”

Rush had 10 points in the first half but didn’t score in the first 11:15 of the second half. In the second half, perhaps frustrated, he took a number of ill-advised shots.

“I thought I was in the groove early on and sitting down definitely hurt,” Rush said. “I wanted to come out in the second half and establish myself and the shots weren’t falling.”

Williams helped finish off Missouri with a driving, twisting shot with 1:49 to play that put Illinois up, 62-53.

At halftime, a man broke through a ring of fans and tackled Chief Illiniwek, Illinois’ mascot.

The man was wearing black, one of Missouri’s school colors. He was in turn tackled by Illinois fans and hauled off the court.

Police declined to identify the suspect, saying only that he had been arrested and was expected to be charged today.

School spokesman Kent Brown said the mascot never had been confronted. Chief Illiniwek performs a traditional Indian dance at home games but rarely performs on the road.

The performances often have been criticized for racial insensitivity. Several Illinois fans in the circle around the court wore “Save the Chief” buttons.

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No. 3 Kansas 108, North Dakota 77--Jeff Boschee, playing in his home state for the first time since high school and before a state-record crowd of 13,280, scored 23 points to lead the Jayhawks (9-1) at Grand Forks, N.D.

Boschee, who is from Valley City, about a 31/2-hour drive from Grand Forks, was nine for 12 from the field, including four three-pointers.

No. 4 Florida 76, New Orleans 60--Udonis Haslem scored 20 points to lift the Gators (9-1) to their eighth consecutive victory and ruin former Gator assistant Monte Towe’s return to Gainesville, Fla.

Towe, in his first season at New Orleans (5-7), coached in the O’Connell Center for the first time since leaving in 1989, after a decade as Norm Sloan’s assistant.

No. 6 Oklahoma State 85, Arkansas 76--Victor Williams had 17 points, including six free throws in the final minute at North Little Rock, Ark., and the Cowboys (12-0) defeated the Razorbacks (6-4) to remain unbeaten.

Williams, who was limited by foul trouble, made two free throws with 2:19 left to give Oklahoma State its first lead of the game, 75-74.

No. 7 Kentucky 66, Indiana 52--Tayshaun Prince and Cliff Hawkins each scored 17 points to lead the Wildcats (7-2) over the Hoosiers (6-4) at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis.

Kentucky, playing its first game since losing to top-ranked Duke in overtime in the Jimmy V Classic, held Indiana to 32.1% shooting from the field.

No. 10 Boston College 67, Holy Cross 57--Uka Agbai scored a season-high 15 points and the Eagles (11-1) defeated the Crusaders (5-6) for fifth place in the Rainbow Classic at Honolulu, six days after routing Holy Cross, 75-51.

Troy Bell, the Eagles’ leading scorer, was held to 11 points, 13 under his season average. But he made four consecutive free throws when the Crusaders pulled to within four points with 10:58 left.

No. 12 Iowa 89, Kansas State 70--Luke Recker scored 20 of his 29 points in the first half and the Hawkeyes (10-3) held off a second-half rally by the Wildcats (5-5) at Iowa City, Iowa.

Recker was the only Iowa starter on the floor when Kansas State pulled to within 56-55 on Larry Reid’s free throw with 14:24 left. But the Hawkeyes tightened their defense and got key three-pointers from Chauncey Leslie and Ryan Hogan to rebuild their lead.

Wisconsin 86, No. 14 Marquette 73--Kirk Penney scored a career-high 33 points, the most by a Wisconsin player since Michael Finley had 38 in the 1994 NCAA tournament, and the Badgers (5-6) knocked Marquette from the ranks of the unbeaten.

Wisconsin blew all but one point of a 20-point lead in the second half at Madison, Wis., before recovering to beat the Golden Eagles (10-1) for the fourth consecutive time.

North Carolina 92, No. 15 St. Joseph’s 76--Jason Capel had 21 points and a career-high 16 rebounds to help the Tar Heels (3-5) salvage their appearance in the Hardee’s Tournament of Champions at Charlotte, N.C.

Jameer Nelson scored 22 points for the Hawks (6-3).

No. 17 Michigan State 68, Seton Hall 64--Marcus Taylor had 18 points and five assists at East Lansing, Mich., and the Spartans (9-3) held off the Pirates (6-4) to extend the nation’s longest home winning streak to 53 games.

St. John’s 72, No. 20 Wake Forest 60--Marcus Hatten scored 19 points over the final 11 minutes and finished with 26 to lead the Red Storm (8-2) to the victory against the Demon Deacons (8-3) at Madison Square Garden. He finished with 26 points.

No. 21 Ball State 68, Indiana State 54--Patrick Jackson scored 19 points at Terre Haute, Ind., and the Cardinals (7-3) won by holding the Sycamores (2-8) to the fewest points and poorest shooting (38%) of any opponent they have faced.

No. 25 Cincinnati 79, Purdue 62--Senior guard Steve Logan scored 18 of his 29 points in the first half and the Bearcats (11-1) made 50% of their shots as they defeated the Boilermakers (7-6) in the championship game of the Las Vegas Classic.