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EVENTS
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DAYTON, Ohio (Ticker) -- Illinois must have learned something from watching Big Ten Conference rivals Indiana and Wisconsin fall to lower-seeded teams in Thursday's opening round of the NCAA Tournament. The Fighting Illini, the No. 1 seed in the Midwest Region, were on the attack from the outset Friday and went on to crush Northwestern State, 96-54, in a first-round game. They will play Charlotte in the second round on Sunday. Illinois led, 44-27, at halftime and kept the pressure on throughout the second half. It was the kind of rout that is expected every time a No. 1 seed meets a No. 16 seed, yet Indiana and Wisconsin were not expected to have much trouble either on Thursday and both were beaten. Indiana, a No. 4 seed, lost to No. 13 seed Kent State, 77-73, and Wisconsin, a No. 6 seed, was beaten, 50-49, by Georgia State, a No. 11 seed. Illinois (25-7), however, appears to be a team on a mission. The Fighting Illini are making their ninth NCAA appearance in the last 13 years but have advanced past the second round only once in that span. On top of that, Illinois wants to prove it is better than it showed in the Big Ten tournament, where it lost to Indiana in the semifinals. The victory over Northwestern State was a true team effort. The Illini placed six players in double figures, with Marcus Griffin's 16 points leading the way. Brian Cook chipped in with 15 points, Cory Bradford and Damir Krupalija added 12 each and Robert Archibald, who hit on 5-of-6 field goal attempts, and Frank Williams had 11 points apiece. More importantly was the way Illinois distributed the ball. The Illini had 27 assists to only eight for Northwestern State. Williams controlled the game nicely with eight assists and six other players had at least two. Illinois also had a commanding 44-27 advantage on the boards with Cook and Krupalija grabbing eight apiece. Northwestern State, which finished 19-13, had three players score in double figures, led by Chris Lynch's 12 points. Chris Thompson and Melvin Roberts had 11 points apiece. Northwestern State played its way into the first round by defeating Winthrop, 71-67, in a play-in game on Tuesday. The extra contest was made necessary when the NCAA decided that the tournament would have 31 automatic bids as well as 34 at-large berths. The Demons won the Southland Conference tournament with a 72-71 upset of regular-season champion McNeese State. |
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