A look back at men’s basketball over winter break

Illinois’ Brandon Paul (3) watches Gonzaga’s Steven Gray (32) go for a layup at the United Center in Chicago on Jan 2. The Illini lost to the Bulldogs in overtime with a final score of 85-83 but rebounded with three straight Big Ten wins.
Brad Meyer The Daily Illini

Men’s basketball head coach Bruce Weber has been forcing the Illini to play a little game of musical chairs throughout the past month. The team featured a different starting lineup in its past few contests, as players weren’t given the nod until they proved to Weber they weren’t playing a lazy game. The lineup that was used to open the season entered a rough patch when the squad’s final three nonconference games produced dreary tones. However, the first four games of Big Ten play allowed the Illini to dance. That is, only after some nail-biting final verses. Let’s take a closer look at what happened while you were away.

Georgia 70, Illinois 67

The Illini dropped a close one to the Bulldogs on a neutral court in Duluth, Ga., even with a late second-half rally. After Demetri McCamey put up seven straight points to put the Illini ahead by one with 35 seconds left, Georgia’s Trey Thompkins converted four free throws down the stretch to lead his team to victory. McCamey led the Illini with 21 points and five assists, but Thompkins’ 21 points and seven boards were just too much for the Illinois defense.

Missouri 81, Illinois 68

Weber once again went with the starting lineup he had most all of the season — McCamey, Mike Davis, Mike Tisdale, Brandon Paul and D.J. Richardson — but Illinois was careless with the ball and let Missouri take the Braggin’ Rights contest for the first time in 10 years. The Illini lost another game at a neutral site, turning over the ball 22 times and displaying little defensive effort. The Tigers’ Kim English scored 24 points, including a career-best five 3-pointers.

Illinois 89, Northwestern 83 OT

Junior big men Tisdale and Davis helped the Illini offense finally get the ball inside the perimeter to defeat the Wildcats in a shootout. Tisdale finished the game with a career-high 31 points to go along with his 11 rebounds.

“The last couple days in practice we’ve been focusing on getting the inside touch,” Tisdale said after the win. “Whether we get a shot or not, just moving the ball, getting it inside, making the defense collapse, and obviously tonight it helped.”

Despite the conference victory, Illinois had 11 turnovers to Northwestern’s three, and its lineup lacked the level of defense needed to compete consistently in the Big Ten.

Gonzaga 85, Illinois 83 OT

Weber decided to give his original starting lineup one final shot in front of a sellout crowd of 20,917 at the United Center in Chicago, but they couldn’t sink it. Literally.

Senior Dominique Keller’s 22 points and late 3-pointer led the Illini back from a 21-point deficit to force overtime. But the pressure was too much down the stretch, as Paul missed a tough 3-point shot from the left wing in the final seconds that would have won the game.

Fingers pointed to defense again, and Weber knew changes were necessary.

“When (Jeff Jordan) went in there, we fought, guarded a little better. D.J. was a little bit tentative,” Weber said. “He’s older, he’s a little more mature and there’s no doubt that’s a positive.”

Illinois 59, Iowa 42

This is where the music got funky. The beat change worked though, as the Illini did the Cha Cha and brought it back with a new starting lineup. Jordan and Bill Cole started in place of McCamey and Richardson to help swarm the Hawkeyes with their defense.

“We needed to get off to a better start, and it’s the first time in eight games that we won the first five-minute war,” Weber said.

Richardson and McCamey combined for 26 points off the bench.

Illinois 66, Indiana 60

Richardson was back in the lineup, while McCamey came off the bench once again. Both got Weber’s message, and both came up big when it mattered. McCamey added 19 points to Tisdale’s team-high of 27, while Richardson’s 17-footer with 1:10 to go put the Illini on top for good after they were down by as many as 15 and trailed for most of the game.

Illinois 54, Penn State 53

This time Richardson and McCamey both earned their starting spots, while Cole took the court in place of Paul once again. McCamey scored 25 points in his return to the lineup, and the Illini escaped a back-and-forth battle, as Penn State’s Talor Battle missed a jump shot as time expired to move the Illini to 4-0 in Big Ten play.

“That sixth man is probably over with,” McCamey said after the game.

What lies ahead?

Although the Illini (12-5, 4-0) remain undefeated in the conference, they have yet to face the big guns. They may be in for a wake-up call Saturday, when they travel to No. 7 Michigan State to play for sole possession of first place in the Big Ten. It won’t get any easier after that, as Illinois hosts No. 6 Purdue on Tuesday and travels to Northwestern on Jan. 23.