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TechnographSports column: Home away from home
By Bobby La Gesse
Posted: 12/10/04 Section: Sports
WASHINGTON - The court read "Georgetown" in blue and gray letters. The Hoyas wore "home" white jerseys. The Georgetown mascot - a bulldog, which I guess is a "Hoya" - patrolled the sidelines.
But No. 1 Illinois got a rousing ovation when it walked onto the court.
So much for the road game. No. 1 Illinois had the Capital Krush behind them as they defeated Gerogetown 74-59.
Georgetown runs the Princeton offense - which Northwestern used to beat Illinois 70-60 last year. Illinois hasn't played the same since beating Wake Forest and Gonzaga. Practice is the place the team can find that form, but the team hasn't been able to practice much this week.
And the game was played in a Georgetown's equivalent of the United Center - allowing the Hoyas to turn the MCI Center into a home game away from home.
That all could have added up to an early season slip-up for the No. 1 team in the country.
Instead, the MCI Center became as close to a home court as Illinois will find on the East Coast because Illinois is the Johnny Come Lately in college basketball. The Illini dismantled the then-No. 1 team, Wake Forest. No one expected the supposed best non-conference game of the year to be decided in 10 minutes. People want to see what this Illinois team is about.
People showed up at the MCI Center decked out in orange and blue two and a half hours before tipoff. The gates did not open for another hour and a half.
There are people waiting two and a half hours before an Illinois game at Assembly Hall. They are called the Orange Krush. What else is a college student supposed to do? I mean, class isn't an option.
Fifteen seconds into the game, half of the stadium chanted "I-L-L." The other half responded with "I-N-I."
The crowd even dressed like it was Paint the Center Orange Night. One guy in the stands had an orange KAM's shirt on and spent half the game on his cell phone - probably talking to his former frat brothers watching the game at KAM's.
But No. 1 Illinois got a rousing ovation when it walked onto the court.
So much for the road game. No. 1 Illinois had the Capital Krush behind them as they defeated Gerogetown 74-59.
Georgetown runs the Princeton offense - which Northwestern used to beat Illinois 70-60 last year. Illinois hasn't played the same since beating Wake Forest and Gonzaga. Practice is the place the team can find that form, but the team hasn't been able to practice much this week.
And the game was played in a Georgetown's equivalent of the United Center - allowing the Hoyas to turn the MCI Center into a home game away from home.
That all could have added up to an early season slip-up for the No. 1 team in the country.
Instead, the MCI Center became as close to a home court as Illinois will find on the East Coast because Illinois is the Johnny Come Lately in college basketball. The Illini dismantled the then-No. 1 team, Wake Forest. No one expected the supposed best non-conference game of the year to be decided in 10 minutes. People want to see what this Illinois team is about.
People showed up at the MCI Center decked out in orange and blue two and a half hours before tipoff. The gates did not open for another hour and a half.
There are people waiting two and a half hours before an Illinois game at Assembly Hall. They are called the Orange Krush. What else is a college student supposed to do? I mean, class isn't an option.
Fifteen seconds into the game, half of the stadium chanted "I-L-L." The other half responded with "I-N-I."
The crowd even dressed like it was Paint the Center Orange Night. One guy in the stands had an orange KAM's shirt on and spent half the game on his cell phone - probably talking to his former frat brothers watching the game at KAM's.
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