Aztecs’ Little 5 Run Into Big Ten

With the scent of Creighton’s upset of Florida still wafting in the rafters, upstart San Diego State took the United Center court Friday afternoon against Illinois and proved, um, that the tournament selection committee doesn’t get everything wrong.

Making use of its many advantages--height, skill, close-to-home court--fourth-seeded Illinois knocked No. 13 San Diego State halfway back to Sea World, 93-64, in a first-round Midwest Regional game.

“When it happens, you want to take the drop-chute through the floor and not talk to anyone,” San Diego State Coach Steve Fisher said.

Illinois (25-8) advances to Sunday’s second-round game against Creighton, which defeated Florida in double overtime.

San Diego State (21-12) watched from the locker room as Creighton pulled off the upset and hoped to use it as “little-guy” motivation.

“We thought we could come out and do the same thing,” Aztec forward Randy Holcomb said. “We were anxious to get on the floor. Maybe we should have waited a few more minutes.”

Holcomb, a Chicago native, watched Creighton’s Terrell Taylor score 28 points in the victory over Florida. Taylor wears uniform No. 23 in honor of Michael Jordan, and so does Holcomb.

But the 6-foot-9 Holcomb was simply overmatched by Illinois’ interior strength and finished with only nine points, eight fewer than his season average.

“Most times, I’m one of the biggest guys on the court,” he said. “Tonight, I was a two-guard compared to those guys.”

Illinois led by only 15 points at the half but pulled away after intermission like a bullet train from a station. The second half became a three-point shooting and alley-oop pass exhibition.

Illinois guard Frank Williams, trying to make amends for a subpar season, conducted a second-half clinic and finished with 25 points and eight assists while making five of six three-point shots. He made three consecutive three-pointers in one stretch, giving Illinois a 24-point lead, then provided the trail-end lob pass on two thunderous dunks by Luther Head that pushed the lead to 28. Head finished with 19 points.

Al Faux led San Diego State with 27 points.

Asked to explain his late-season resurgence, Williams said, “This is a new season for us. Now is the time to go.”

Head’s breakaway layup with nine minutes left put the Illini up by 37 points at 76-39 and prompted Coach Bill Self to empty the bench.

After muddling through most of the regular season, Illinois now has to be considered a title contender.

Fisher said Illinois was by far the best team the Aztecs had played this season, quite a statement considering San Diego State lost at Duke by 13 points.

“We were more competitive at Duke,” Fisher said. “But they are a great team. But what we saw today was a better team. That doesn’t mean Illinois is better than Duke.”

The Aztecs ended on a downer, but Fisher was quick to put the ugly defeat in context. Three years ago, Fisher went 5-23 in his first season as he rolled up sleeves and tried to rebuild the program from scratch. The Aztecs improved to 14-14 last season and this season won the Mountain West Conference’s automatic bid and advanced to their first NCAA tournament since 1985.

“We’ve come a long way,” Fisher said, “yet we all know we’ve got miles to go.”