Illini roll to 77-54 win over ASU
By bringing his players to Hawaii five days before the start of the Maui Invitational, as well as scheduling a tough road game with Hawaii, Illinois coach Bruce Weber hoped to benefit from synchronized body clocks and sharpened competitive edges.
His plan couldn't have played out any better during Monday's quarterfinal opener against Arizona State.
Though tipoff didn't occur until 10:30 p.m. Central time, the Illini answered the bell immediately with the game's first 20 points.
Junior forward Rodney Alexander delivered two 3-pointers and two conventional 3-point plays in the Illini's immediate six-minute blitz as they rolled to a 77-54 triumph at the Lahaina Civic Center.
Senior forward Brian Randle led everyone with 17 points and 8 rebounds as Illinois (3-0) advanced to today's second semifinal against No. 13 Duke (8:30 p.m., ESPN).
The Illini haven't met the Blue Devils (3-0), who handled Princeton 83-61 on Monday, since the 2004 NCAA Sweet Sixteen.
Illinois' players have looked ahead to this game since Maui Invitational officials released the brackets in August.
"We'll see how good we are," Weber said. "The one advantage, hopefully, we'll have is our athleticism. And if we can get it into Shaun (Pruitt) if we can beat their pressure, that should be an advantage. It's going to be a big challenge."
Illinois shredded Arizona State's zone in virtually every manner possible while hitting 7 of its first 8 shots. The Sun Devils, starting three freshmen in an opener for the first time, appeared too stunned to respond.
"I think they were a little shell-shocked," Weber said. "We had a tremendous crowd here. Our guys came in before the game and said, 'Coach, it's a hometown crowd.' And we went after them right away."
Randle started the 20-0 run by slashing baseline for a layup and a free throw.
Alexander (17 points) drilled a 3-pointer from the corner, then Chester Frazier fed Randle a long pass for a breakaway dunk.
Alexander turned an acrobatic alley-oop tip into a 3-point play, then he and Trent Meacham netted 3-pointers before Alexander added another regular 3-point play.
With three games scheduled within 48 hours, Illinois' early spree bought some valuable floor time for its freshmen off the bench.
Randle and Meacham were stuck with 2 early fouls, so Weber felt free to try some youthful combinations.
Juniors Steve Holdren and Alexander joined forces at the five-minute mark with freshmen Bill Cole, Mike Tisdale and Jeff Jordan _ pleasing the latter's famous father, who sat in a folding chair wearing the same orange-and-blue Nike shirt as Weber.
Then Weber sent in freshmen Demetri McCamey and Mike Davis to run with Tisdale and Jordan as they wrapped up Illinois' 38-24 lead at the break.
Alexander kicked off the second half with another 3-pointer from the corner, then Randle added a stylish breakaway dunk and three layups as Illinois hit 8 straight second-half shots to rebuild its huge margin.
Sophomores Brian Carlwell and Rich Semrau made their season debuts in the waning minutes, which ends any speculation they might seek redshirts.