Illini aim to keep momentum going against Boise State

Clemson forward Trevor Booker, right, makes a move to steal from Illinois forward Dominique Keller, left, during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2009, at Littlejohn Colliseum, in Clemson, S.C.
AP Photo/Brett Flashnick

On the heels of a record-setting 23-point comeback against No. 18 Clemson on Wednesday, Illinois will have a different type of challenge on its hands against Boise State (4-2) on Saturday.

“We can’t get too high that when we hit Boise we drop, so we got to take the win, be happy,” junior center Mike Tisdale said. “But we also got to focus in on our next opponent and not expect the momentum from (the Clemson win) to just carry us through everything else.”

Saturday’s contest will mark the first meeting between the two squads, and just the fourth Big Ten opponent for the Broncos since they entered Division I in 1968-69.

Boise State is 0-3 when facing Big Ten opponents, with their last regular season meeting against the conference coming against Indiana during the 1998-99 season.

But Illinois junior forward Mike Davis isn’t concerned about losing the momentum gained in the Clemson victory when Illini battle the Broncos.

“I don’t think it affects it. Boise State, they’re a good team, they’re real athletic,” Davis said.

“I think it will be easier now because we know how hard we have to play,” Davis added. “I think (if) we play like we played the second half (against Clemson) and guys play together like we did, we’ll be fine.”

Leading the way for the Broncos is forward Ike Okoye, who is averaging 13.5 points to go along with 9.5 rebounds this season.

A week ago, the senior was named the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Player of the Week after helping Boise State open the season 2-0.

Okoye posted a double-double with 21 points and a career-high 17 rebounds, as the Broncos defeated Eastern Washington on Nov. 24.

But Okoye isn’t the lone offensive threat for Boise State.

Junior guard La’Shard Anderson is right behind Okoye in the scoring category, averaging 13.3 points a game.

“We have pretty balanced scoring,” Boise State head coach Greg Graham said.
“We have five guys averaging in double figures, so it’s pretty spread around, like (the Illini),” he added.

Aiding in the Illini comeback Wednesday was the effort of Tisdale, who posted 12 points and eight rebounds against Clemson.

Averaging 5.7 rebounds so far this season, the performance was especially impressive coming against an athletic Tigers squad.

But the junior wasn’t overly impressed with his own achievement.

“I gotta rebound every game, it can’t be against just the better teams,” Tisdale said.
The Fighting Illini may be the better team on paper heading into Saturday’s contest. But that doesn’t stop the Broncos from looking forward to the challenge of playing Illinois at the Assembly Hall.

“It’s a great place to play. They’ve got good fans. It’s a neat facility and a tough place to play — very tough place to play — but a good place to play,” Graham said. “It will be a great experience for our guys.”

And the opportunity to play the Illini is deliberate on the part of Boise State.
“They’re awfully good,” Graham said of Illinois.

“It will definitely be a great challenge for us, but we wanted to go play somewhere like that.”