Illinois vs. Boise State

The crowds continue to grow here at the Assembly Hall. Tonight's is as good as it has been for a non-conference game in a while. Boise State likes to push the ball and play at a high pace, so expect tonight to be a high scoring affair. The Illini came out well against Clemson, were tied at 19, and then allowed the run that appeared to knock them out of the game. Tonight, Bruce Weber wants to see a consistent performance through out the game.

The final score is 84-77 Illinois.

Bubba Chisholm in.

D.J. Richardson had a wide open lay-up, but instead he pulled the ball back out and wasted some clock. Smart move by the freshman who makes both of his free throws.

80-77, BSU misses the second free throw, and Tisdale is on the line shooting 2. The first one drops. 81-77. The second does the same. 82-77.

Bill Cole fouls out on a close call. The fans wanted a charge, but the call was that he was moving. Tisdale, McCamey, Paul, Richardson, and Davis in.

McCamey is fouled quickly and goes to the line with 18 left. Jordan in for Tisdale. McCamey sinks both shots. McCamey out, Cole in.

BSU shows some good defense, and the Illini are forced to use their final timeout trying to get the ball in. Still 20 seconds left.

Again, the ball goes in for the Illini from Tisdale... and again we allow the Broncos to score quickly. 78-76 with 20 seconds left.

Mike Tisdale sinks a shot, but a quick 3 makes it a 2 point game. There are 35 seconds left, and Weber wants to talk things over.

A three pointer by Anthony Thomas has cut the Illini lead down to 3. Weber calls a timeout, and with 1:19 left in the game Illinois is going to have to be a lot cleaner out there when it comes to their passes and defensive assignments.

74-68 with 2 minutes left.

Two games in a row, McCamey's presence on the floor makes all the difference in how sloppy the Illini are with the ball. Every time he is out we become less secure and commit turnovers.

70-64 with 5:30 left.

Tisdale just passed up an opportunity to take the ball strong to the hole. Bill Cole should have caught the pass, but I think he was getting ready to rebound.

Bruce Weber is about to pull his hair out after McCamey tried another tricky pass as the Illini were on the break 3-1.

Mike Davis just recorded another double-double.

Tisdale is now two for two. He's up there in shooting percentage in the Big Ten, the offense just needs to find more ways to get him the ball.

The Illini are in a zone right now in attempt to change the pace a little. The Broncos were hot from deep early so let's see how this works out.

68-58 Illinois with 9 left.

Boise State was chipping back at the lead, but a basket by Paul and a breakaway dunk by Keller has the momentum back on the Illini's side.

Keller is really struggling on his free throws. The problem seems to be his timing on his routine.

Brandon Paul just made a no look pass over his head to Keller who was fouled on the lay-up attempt.

The Illini used great ball movement on that last basket, and the result was a wide open Davis jumper.

McCamey just made his fourth three of the night, and this one was NBA range. 57-50 Illini with 13:00 left to play.

Tisdale just took and made his first shot of the night 26 minutes into the game.

52-46 Illini lead with 15:45 left in the game. Mike Davis is having a great night with 14 and 8.

McCamey tried to get fancy and turned the ball over for an easy BSU bucket. Coach Weber talks a lot about his ability, but sometimes he tries to do too much.

Mike Davis is surely on his way to another double-double, and Demetri McCamey has been shooting well all night. The Illini jump out with a quick 5 points to open the half. 47-38... Timeout BSU.

42-38 is the halftime score. The Illini are shooting pretty well, they just aren't defending and rebounding to the best of their abilities. The Broncos are shooting over 53% on the game, and to this point in the season the Illini haven't allowed a single team to shoot over 45%. I would expect the half time talk to be about keeping up the intensity for the rest of the game and just playing their roles. This Boise State team isn't bad, and they are are very capable of winning this geam if we aren't careful. This is a team that you need to put away if you get up by a lead because they appear to have the ability to score in bunches.

Dominique Keller put home a one hand slam and with 30 seconds left, and the Illini are up by 4. It would be nice to hold it at four points going into the half from this point.

2:00 left in the first half, and the Illini lead 40-38.

Brandon Paul got called for offensive goaltending on a play that looked clean... he followed it up by drawing a charge soon after, so maybe the officials agreed.

Tyler Griffey has done some great things in this game with hustle. The other day he was at practice early shooting, and he put in 38 three's in five minutes, getting his own rebound. The kid can shoot.

Mike Davis made a great reverse lay-up there off the glass.

With 7:45 left in the first half, the Illini lead this one by 2, 30-28.

Tyler Griffey hustles and pokes the ball away from Broncos guard Anthony Thomas... out of bounds to the Illini.

Alex Legion has missed two big shots in this game so far. He is known as a streaky shooter, but those two are the type that any player needs to make when they are that open.

Kurt Cunningham is listed at 265 lbs., and Brandon Paul got called for a charge... knocked him over like a feather... ;)

Illini 22- Boise State 19 with 11 left in the first half.

Evan Turner got hurt today, and that leaves Mike Davis as the leading rebounder in the Big Ten.

Tisdale picks up his second foul less than 7 minutes into the game.

Bill Cole should get a Matto point for the hustle to the missed shot there. He didn't get the ball, but his presence caused the rebound to go to Richardson who was fouled.

DJ Richardson hits a three with 1 second on the shot clock.

The Illini are getting out rebounded early in this game. The Broncos look to be getting the inside position consistently.

Brandon Paul gets called for the foul, but that was the type of thing a coach likes to see... contact going after a lazy pass.

Demetri McCamey comes out and hits on the opening possession, then follows it up with a quick three... Good start for a guy who scored 2 points in his last game.