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PHOENIX (Ticker) -- Arizona still appears to have Illinois' number. Jason Gardner scored 23 points and Rick Anderson added a career-high 18 as eighth-ranked Arizona posted an 87-82 victory over No. 6 Illinois in a rematch of an NCAA Tournament meeting a season ago. The teams met three times in 2000-01, with the Wildcats winning twice, including an 87-81 triumph that sent them to the Final Four. Things were supposed to be different this season with Illinois returning a veteran squad and the Wildcats losing four starters. But Arizona got a big effort from freshmen big men Isaiah Fox and Dennis Latimore. Fox scored 12 points, Latimore added eight and both helped limit Illinois center Brian Cook to 11 points and seven rebounds. "I keep telling everyone that Dennis Latimore will be a big factor," Arizona coach Lute Olson said. "He can take a pounding and still get up and play well. We also had good, solid play out of Isaiah Fox." Arizona (4-1) took command in the first half, scoring 10 straight points for a 17-13 lead with just over 12 minutes left. The Wildcats closed the half with nine straight points, including a pair of 3-pointers from freshman Will Bynum, an Illinois native. The first half included a bizarre stretch of more than five minutes for Illinois (6-2) in which it did not attempt a field goal. "I thought we tried hard in the first half, we just weren't very good in the first half," Illinois coach Bill self said. "We were up 13-7, we forgot how we got up 13-7 and we didn't have some guys play like they're capable of playing." The lead grew to 58-39 with 15:20 remaining before the Fighting Illini finally made a run. A 16-4 burst, capped by a pair of free throws by Damir Krupalija, pulled Illinois within 64-59 with 7:18 remaining. "It was our bad defense," Anderson said. "In the first half, we were fighting, we had ball pressure. In the second half, we were letting them get it wherever they wanted it." Arizona responded with an 8-3 spurt, with a pair of free throws by Gardner extending the lead to 72-62 with 4:42 to go. The Illini did not quit and Frank Williams, who matched a career high with 30 points, nailed a 3-pointer with 35 seconds left to cut the deficit to 84-80. Williams committed his fifth foul on Gardner, who made two free throws for a six-point cushion. Williams had 16 of his 30 points in the final 4:16 as he put the Illini on his back in a comeback reminiscent of his effort on November 22, 2000 in a 79-76 loss to Arizona in the championship game of the Maui Invitational. "We couldn't stop Frank Williams," Olson said. "He is a superb player and you can just see that he's a winner by the way he continues to make big shots." In Maui, the Wildcats led 74-65 with 52 seconds left, but Williams drilled a pair of 3-pointers and blocked a layup by Gardner in a 9-1 run. In last season's NCAA Tournament matchup, Arizona attempted 56 foul shots. It converted 29-of-38 from the line Tuesday, with Gardner making 12-of-15 and Fox going 8-of-10. "We knew they were going to make a run at us. As long as we could withstand it, we knew we'd be all right," WIlliams said. "But everybody contributed and did their job." Cory Bradford had a horrific game, misfiring on 12-of-15 shots amd missing all eight 3-point attempts. The senior guard also failed to record an assist. "My teammates did a great job getting me the ball when I was open," Bradford said. "My shots felt good, but it doesn't feel that good when they're not falling in for you." Robert Archibald scored 14 points and Krupalija added 11 and 10 rebounds for Illinois, which committed 18 turnovers that led to 21 points for the Wildcats. "I was pleased with our defense tonight, we created problems for them," Olson said. "This game did not surprise me," Self said. "I thought that we would play great. I thought they played pretty hard. It was an interesting game going into the last TV timeout. I think anybody could see that." .
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