Illinois’ Win Self-Fulfilling

Illinois Coach Bill Self wasn’t happy with Frank, to be perfectly frank.

And after a scoreless first half Sunday, Self let his star guard, Frank Williams, know it.

“Coach kind of jumped me in the locker room,” Williams said.

Maybe the tongue-lashing will earn Self a motivational award.

Williams scored 20 second-half points to lead No. 4 Illinois to a 72-60 win over No. 12 Creighton in a second-round Midwest Regional game at the United Center.

With the victory, Illinois advances to Madison, Wis., next week to meet top-seeded Kansas in a Midwest Regional semifinal. It will be a rematch of last year’s semifinal in Dayton, Ohio. Illinois won that game, 80-64.

Illinois had to be afraid of looking ahead against Creighton, which pulled off a double-overtime win against Florida and had notions of making it a weekend double.

Creighton scrapped and hustled and played tough enough Sunday to hang well into the second half, closing the gap to 46-44 with 13:55 left on two Michael Lindeman free throws.

“The collar could have gotten a little tight,” Self said, “but it didn’t happen.”

It didn’t happen because Williams awoke from his slumber and took over the game.

In one creative, eight-minute burst, he knocked down consecutive three-point shots, passed to teammate Brian Cook for a basket, scored on a reverse layup and beat his man off the dribble for another basket.

On the last basket of the streak, with 4:13 left, Illinois had extended its lead to 15 points at 64-49 and began to look ahead to Friday’s matchup against Kansas.

Williams, after missing his only two shots in the first half, finished with 20 points and five assists. The question afterward was why he turns his game on and off like a faucet.

Self wanted to know too.

The halftime message?

“I told him he’s a lot better than what he’s playing,” Self said.

It’s sort of been the story of Illinois’ up-and-down season. When the Illini dropped to 4-5 in Big Ten play in early February, Self wondered if the team would win another game.

Yet, sort of like a local team that plays in Westwood, Illinois (26-8) tends to lift its level of play when it needs to.

The Illini routed San Diego State in a first-round game and did just enough to get by Creighton, which finished 23-9.

Illinois got just enough offense and had enough defensive stoppers to hold down the Bluejays’ top scorer, Kyle Korver.

Self rotated Williams and Cory Bradford on Korver, who finished with 14 points but was held to six shots.

“We didn’t get Kyle enough shots,” Creighton Coach Dana Altman lamented.

Illinois shot 55.6% from the field, 63.6% in the second half, yet Self said his team is going to have to play better against Kansas.

“They’ve got the total package,” Self said.

“But our guys usually play well when the stage is bright.”