No. 20 Illinois beats Minnesota 52-41 in revenge match

CHAMPAIGN - By Chester Frazier's own conservative reckoning, Illinois' senior guard committed "probably three or four" fouls on Thursday night.

The final stats showed him with zero.

Frazier was one of many players to commit infinitely more fouls than were whistled during No. 20 Illinois' open-court warfare with Minnesota at Assembly Hall.

By the time the Gophers and Illini finished their one-day Ph.D's in Administering Penalty-Free Welts and Bruises, Illinois had earned every bit of its 52-41 Big Ten victory before 16,395.

"Their backs were against the wall," Frazier said. "They needed this win tonight. So I think they came out and fought for it. We fought back.

"It was an ugly game. I don't think either team shot particularly well, but we made plays when it counted."

The Illini avenged last month's 59-36 loss at Minnesota by limiting the Gophers to the fewest points of the two-year Tubby Smith era.

Illinois held Minnesota scoreless for the final 6:24 to turn a 1-point edge into a rousing victory that mattered on multiple levels.

The Illini (23-6, 11-5) clinched a first-round bye in the Big Ten tournament and pulled within 11/2 games of No. 9 Michigan State, which comes to town Sunday for a CBS national broadcast.

"I just can't be more happy," said Illinois coach Bruce Weber. "You wish it was prettier, but that's not what our league's about.

"It's about defending, preparation, playing hard. If you can't do that, you're not going to be successful."

Illinois didn't fulfill any of these requisites at the outset.

In the opening seven minutes, senior forward Damian Johnson dunked and blocked and stole Minnesota into a 15-9 lead.

"We told them today, we went up there (on Jan. 29), they took us in the alley and they beat our butts," Weber said. "And beat us bad. And they were going to come again with the same type of attitude and determination - and we weren't ready for it at the beginning.

"And that's when they jumped on us. I think our guys were waiting for fouls; they were waiting for things to go our way."

Illinois never figured out how to combat Minnesota on the glass - the Gophers dominated by 15 rebounds and had 18 second-chance points - but the visitors never figured out how to shoot from the perimeter.

The Gophers (20-8, 8-8) scored just 5 points from beyond 5 feet as they committed 20 turnovers and went 1-for-14 on 3-pointers.

"Turnovers and bad shot selection," said Tubby Smith. "That's a loss every time."