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CHICAGO (Ticker) -- Frank Williams showed up in time to send the party crashers home. After being a non-factor in the opening 20 minutes, the junior guard scored all 20 of his points in the second half as fourth-seeded Illinois advanced to the "Sweet 16" with a 72-60 victory over No. 12 Creighton in a Midwest Region second-round contest at the United Center. "I knew I had to pick it up," Williams said. "We can't afford me playing like that again. The game could have easily gotten away from us. We need to be on our toes from here on in. We're the underdogs now." Illinois (26-8) will be the underdog when it takes on top-seeded Kansas in the regional semifinals Friday in Madison, Wisconsin in a rematch of a "Sweet 16" game last season. "Our team needs to play better than what they have played so far in order to give us the best chance to move on," Illinois coach Bill Self said. "Kansas deserved a No. 1 seed and we deserved what we got." Coming off a last-second 83-82 double overtime victory against Florida, Creighton was trying to join Missouri as the second No. 12 seed to reach the final 16. But the Bluejays (23-9) had all kinds of trouble attacking the taller, more physical Fighting Illini and got worn down in the second half. "Illinois is a very talented ballclub and we made a run on them in the second half, then just didn't get the stops," Creighton coach Dana Altman said. A six-minute drought proved to be Creighton's undoing after it closed to 52-49 on Brody Deren's jumper hook with 10:09 remaining. Illinois outscored the Bluejays 12-0 over the next six minutes, opening a 64-49 lead on Williams' jumper with 4:13 remaining. "Creighton went through a period where they just out-scrapped us," Self said. "They're a good, well-coached team. If you give them good looks, they'll make you pay." The Illini also benefited from a pro-Illinois crowd at the United Center, which is only a two-hour drive from their campus in Champagne. Illinois is 16-6 in the building, including three victories this season. "It's just one of those obstacles you have to overcome and we just didn't overcome it," Altman said of playing Illinois in Chicago. "It was a good crowd and a lot of energy. Heck, we were just glad to be in the tournament. We have no complaints." After going just 0-for-2 from the field in the first half, Williams made four 3-pointers in the second half and finished 7-of-12 from the field. Kyle Korver scored 14 points and Terrell Taylor added 10 for the Blue Jays, who fell behind, 12-3, in the first five minutes and never recovered. "He (Williams) was the difference in the second half," Korver said. "He got a lot of open looks. He got some nice passes. He makes their team tick." Illinois earned its second straight trip to the "Sweet 16" while Self will be making third consecutive appearance as he led Tulsa to the round of eight in 2000. Taylor erupted for all 28 points in the second half and overtimes in Friday's win after being held scoreless in the first half. But their was no such explosion against Illinois as he made just 4-of-14 shots. For most of the first half, Creighton had more turnovers than field goals. The Bluejays made just three of their first 16 shots to go with eight turnovers and trailed, 22-11, midway through the opener half. Altman went to a trapping defense, allowing Creighton to creep back into the game. Taylor's 3-pointer pulled the Blue Jays within 25-23 with 4:25 left before Illinois settled for a 31-26 halftime lead. Creighton stayed in the game by crashing the boards. They finished with a surprising 34-27 rebounding edge, including 17-6 on the offensive end. However, they could not overcome 37 percent shooting. "Initially it (size disadvantage) did hurt, but after that we outrebounded them," Altman said. "The key was the 3-pointers and making their shots. They weren't missing many shots." The Bluejays closed within 31-29 on Korver's 3-pointer, but Williams took matters into his own hands. His first basket of the contest gave Illinois a 38-29 lead with 18:20 to play. "Frank had a quick start (in the second half) and the rest of the guys followed his lead," Illinois' Robert Archibald said. "We knockd down some good shots." After Williams' 3-pointer gave Illinois a 52-44 lead with 11:36 left, Taylor answered with one of his own before Deren's jump hook pulled Creighton within three. But the Bluejays went cold and Brian Cook's layup started the decisive 12-0 spurt. Cook finished with 16 points. |
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