Illinois vs. Minnesota

McCamey fouls out with 7.8 seconds left in the game. Ralph Sampson shooting 2, we need him to miss one to have a chance... Missed the first... Missed the second, but with no timeouts, the game ends after a miss by DJ Richardson. The Illini fall 62-60 to the Minnesota Golden Gophers.

The Illini get two good looks after a Minnesota basket, but are forced to send the Gophers to the line after misses.

Minnesota just looks dejected! Another Illini three pointer, and this is a one point game! 58-59 with 1:20 left in the game.

The Illini have just opened the flood gates in the last few minutes of this one... What looked like a disaster in progress is now a chance for a miracle.

Bill Cole matches his career high at 12 points for the game. His three point shooting has been the highlight of our offense today.

This is the loudest it has been since the first few minutes, but the Illini still trail 41-53.

6 minutes left, and the Illini trail big, 36-51. It seems that everytime we do anything at all, there is a stop to our momentum.

33 minutes into the game, and the Illini attempt their first free throw.

Richardson and McCamey combining for 0-9 behind the line has just killed us. If even one of their shots each had fallen, it would be a 3 point game. Also, the Illini have not attempted a single free throw in this game.

Devoe Joseph is on fire.

Demetri McCamey has all seven of our teams assists on 11 field goals... This kid simply makes our offense run.

Mike Davis with the shooter's roll at the 15 minute mark. 33-27 Minnesota.

Bill Cole has hit two threes now, and both times Devoe Joseph has taken the ball down to the other end and matched it.

Bill Cole finally hits a three, and the crowd is awake again. I have never seen the Illini miss this many shots... It took 12 attempts to get a three to drop.

The story at the half is a familiar one for Bruce Weber. As a past recipient of criticism due to his team's lack of a true scoring ability, the head coach has to be experiencing the "here we go again" blues. It's not that Minnesota is really out playing us, we just can't seem to figure out the zone. Our shooting is ice cold (22% from the field, 0-11 from three), and the result is a ten point deficit at the break. Coming out into the second half, we need to flat out shoot better. I don't know if it's going to take some set plays or what, the bottom line is that 14 points in a half is just not going to cut it. 10 of our 14 points are in the paint, and that alludes even more to how bad our outside shooting has been. Minnesota has been extremely balanced. 6 players with an assist compared to the Illini who have only one player (McCamey) with any assists. Overall, this game has been very flat, like a continuation of the Ohio State game. We could easily turn it around here and come back, but it's going to take an attitude adjustment from the entire team... This game could clinch an NCAA berth, and we seem to be giving it all away.

There doesn't seem to be much too it... Play a good zone defense, and the Illini are going to struggle to put anything up on the board. The Big Ten is known for man to man, but so far the teams who have just shut down the scoring attack have been OSU and Minnesota, and both run a zone defense.

With 3:45 left in the first, the Illini are hitting 20% of their shots.

Mike Tisdale finally ends the Illini drought with a 15 footer, but the score still sits at 18-10 Minnesota with 4:50 left in the first.

The 2-3 zone is giving us fits. Numerous times we have gotten frustrated, and the result has been a well guarded miss. We need to get it inside, kick it back out, hit a couple of shots, and force the Gophers to get out of this defensive set.

Minnesota is making Illinois switch a lot on defense, and to this point they have been up to the task. The Gopher shots have for the most part come on quick cuts to the vacated space after the dribble drive. Look for the Illini to figure out who's hitting their shots, and the pressure will follow accordingly.

Now seven minutes into the game, and neither team wants to open this one up. Minnesota is ahead 7-4, but it hasn't been pretty. This could be one of those games that become very tedious.

Four minutes into the first half, the game play has been a little choppy. Both teams seem to want to push the ball, but neither are converting on their scoring opportunities. Minnesota is having a hard time knocking down open shots, while Illinois is maybe rushing a little bit to get the shot off. Both teams need to settle down a little during this timeout.