Illini Have Just Floored All Their Opponents

Home-court advantage can be overrated. Just ask Illinois, which plays Duke at Atlanta in the NCAA tournament Friday. The Illini have become fond of playing on Ohio State’s court.

The Illini clinched their first Big Ten regular-season title since 1952 by beating Ohio State, 64-63, on the Buckeyes’ court this month. And the Illini won their first two NCAA tournament games on the same floor.

Different building, but the same floor.

The NCAA moved Ohio State’s court to the hockey arena in Columbus, Ohio, where Illinois was assigned to play.

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Trivia time: Which Pierce College coach was hired as an assistant coach by John Wooden in 1968?

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No humility here: Wonder whether the Sacramento Kings, who play the Lakers tonight, happened to hear Gary Payton on Fox Sports Net’s “Best Damn Sports Show Period” Monday?

Asked which team was favored to win the Western Conference title, Payton said, “It’s us. I don’t care what they say, it’s us.”

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Zapping Sapp: Tom Arnold, in a “Things you wouldn’t say to ... “ bit on “Best Damn” directed at new Oakland Raider Warren Sapp, said:

* “Hey, Warren, $36 million, huh? I see the Raiders decided to pay you by the pound.”

* “Hey, Warren, I understand your signing bonus is 7 million. Is that dollars or curly fries?”

* “Hey, Warren, the good news is, you’re already well acquainted with Raider fans, since you majored in criminology.”

* “Hey, Warren, the Raiders signed you to a seven-year deal. I guess Bill Callahan was right -- they are the dumbest team in America.”

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Short memories: Saint Joseph’s Coach Phil Martelli, who is not very pleased with CBS’ Billy Packer these days, said his players “don’t even know who he is, because his time has passed.”

Mike Downey of the Chicago Tribune wrote: “All I can say to that, Phil, is I sure hope your players don’t feel the same way about Saint Joseph.”

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Graphic goofs: Phil Mushnick of the New York Post, of a CBS graphic that said Xavier’s Romain Sato was majoring in French, wrote, “Left unsaid was that Sato is from the Central African Republic, where the official language is French.”

A graphic during the Connecticut-DePaul game stated this was Jim Calhoun’s 13th appearance in the second round, where his record is 9-2. Wrote Mushnick: “Do that math.”

Also, why did CBS put up a graphic to show the leading scorers in the Nevada-Gonzaga game when the score was 5-4?

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Looking back: On this date in 1980, UCLA, coached by Larry Brown, lost to Louisville, 59-54, in the NCAA championship game.

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Trivia answer: Denny Crum, who spent three seasons at UCLA before going to Louisville.

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And finally: New Dodger co-owner Frank McCourt, to XTRA’s Lee Hamilton, on criticism in The Times: “It is their prerogative to take shots and cover the story the way they want. Judge us at the end of the day, at the end of the season.”

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Larry Stewart can be reached at larry.stewart@latimes.com.