Fast start propels Illinois to decisive victory

CHAMPAIGN - On Sunday, as he does the day after every game, Illinois coach Bruce Weber brought his guys together to review the tape.

Only this time, he didn't break down the good and bad of Saturday's painful overtime loss to Gonzaga.

For the first time in his coaching career, Weber made his players do it.

"I let them talk," Weber said. "Because I know what's right and wrong. They have to know. So we let them talk and critique. Maybe it worked. I don't know."

Judging by Illinois' 59-42 whipping of Iowa on Tuesday, Weber's decision to let everyone be Roger Ebert for a day certainly didn't hurt.

The Illini held the Hawkeyes to 3 points in the first nine minutes and went on to hold Iowa to its lowest scoring total since Jan. 12, 1984.

"I don't think there's any secret to this one," said Iowa coach Todd Lickliter. "They jumped on us too quick and we couldn't recover. I thought the first three to four minutes ... the tone was set and we couldn't reverse it."

Lickliter's thoughts led nicely into Weber's other big motivational gambit.

Juniors Jeff Jordan and Bill Cole made their first career starts at the expense of junior point guard Demetri McCamey and freshman guard D.J. Richardson.

Perhaps it was coincidence, but Illinois (10-5, 2-0) didn't fall behind from the tip as it has done so many times.

"We needed to get off to a better start," Weber said. "It's the first time in eight games that we won the first five-minute war. Got us off. Set the tone."

Just as important, McCamey and Richardson came off the bench four minutes into the fray and contributed from the start.

Richardson (17 points) drilled 4 of 4 3-pointers in the first half - the last a bomb from the corner set up by a behind-the-back pass from McCamey - to help build a 37-15 lead at the break.

McCamey finished with 9 points and 7 assists without a turnover, a nice complement to Jordan's 5 assists without a miscue.

Iowa (5-10, 0-3), which finished with 14 turnovers and 15 field goals, shot just 30 percent from the field.

Schaumburg graduate Cully Payne ran the point for the Hawks and finished with 5 points, 2 assists and 3 turnovers in 29 minutes.

"Defensively, they were pretty good," Payne said. "We watched a lot of film on them and they haven't pressed at all - like one or two possessions - but they came out tonight playing full-court man the whole time, which I think was effective for them."

"Everybody played hard," McCamey said. "We were denying passing lanes. We looked like a good defensive team tonight. And hopefully it'll carry over to the next game and the game after that."