Illini, Arizona ready to renew spirited rivalry
There ought to be a college basketball law that requires Arizona and Illinois to play each other every year.
The entertainment value when the Wildcats and Illini get together, as they will again Saturday at the United Center (11 a.m., ESPN), blows away most intersectional rivalries.
Last year's game in Phoenix, which featured a halftime oncourt staredown between Arizona coach Lute Olson and Illinois assistant Wayne McClain, along with a 84-72 win for the Wildcats after falling behind 16 points in the first half, might be the most docile in the dossier.
It certainly pales in comparison to Illinois' rally from 15 points down in the final four minutes of the 2005 Elite Eight battle at the Allstate Arena.
Then there were the three elite meetings in the 2000-01 season, including Illinois' wild win at the United Center on Dec. 16, 2000. At one point during Illinois' rally, Lucas Johnson and Richard Jefferson scrapped so fiercely for a loose ball that Olson came across the court to tell Johnson he's "crazy" and "nuts."
And if you believe former Arizona guard Gilbert Arenas, who knows a little bit about crazy, Johnson wasn't the only Illini that played with a demented edge.
"It's like watching the old Pistons with Bill Laimbeer," Arenas said in March 2001 before the two teams met for their foul-infested Elite Eight game in San Antonio.
It's not known if Olson will be at the United Center on Saturday either to watch or to coach his 22nd-ranked team.
While Olson returned to practice this week, former Northwestern coach Kevin O'Neill has been in charge since Olson took a personal leave on Nov. 4.
"I am not sure at this point," O'Neill said Thursday of Olson's status, a few hours before the Wildcats boarded their flight for Chicago. "Nor is he."
Olson didn't attend Arizona's practice Thursday, but that doesn't mean his influence won't be felt Saturday before a near sellout.
"We talk all the time," O'Neill said. "Anytime you can get the opinion of greatness, you should do it."
Illinois coach Bruce Weber, meanwhile, requires the opinion of his team's medical staff to prepare for Arizona.
Senior center Shaun Pruitt, who has made 75 consecutive starts, suffered a sprained ankle Sunday and has returned slowly to the practice court despite near-constant treatments.
"A little bit tentative on it. Doesn't push off," Weber said. "It may end up being a game-time decision."
If Pruitt can't go, then 7-foot-1 freshman Mike Tisdale and redshirt freshman Richard Semrau are the top options at the "5" spot.
If Pruitt can play, Weber will have just one new starter in the lineup. Junior guard Trent Meacham, who delivered a career-high 26 points against Weber State on Saturday, will take Rodney Alexander's spot as Calvin Brock moves to small forward.
It's not so much Meacham's recent performance or Alexander's recent flu that drives this move -- particularly since he has excelled as a sixth man -- but Illinois' slow starts with Brock, Alexander and Brian Randle together in the lineup.
"I had kind of made up my mind after the first two minutes of the game last Saturday," Weber said. "And it happened at Maryland in the second half. I just don't think we're very good offensively with those three guys.
"They're all so similar … but they don't blend together very well. And there's no motion, and the passing's not the best. I just don't want to get off to a bad start again."
Bob Chwedyk/bchwedyk@dailyherald.com
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Due to an ankle injury, Shaun Pruitt's string of 75 consecutive starts for Illinois could end Saturday. Coach Bruce Weber said it might be a game-time decision.