Too little, too late for Illini in 76-72 loss to W. Kentucky
PORTLAND, Ore. - Illinois poured in 21 points during the final 4:12 of its NCAA Tournament first-round game Thursday night.
Unfortunately for the Illini, they dug themselves such a hole that they needed a fistful more to avoid becoming the biggest victim of the tournament's first day.
Trailing by 17 points with less than five minutes to go, fifth-seeded Illinois chopped its deficit all the way to 2 before succumbing 76-72 to Western Kentucky at the Rose Garden.
For the second year in a row, the Hilltoppers (25-8) stunned a fifth seed seeking a terrific end to a turnaround year. The Sun Belt champs put all five starters in double figures to move into the second round against fourth-seeded Gonzaga on Saturday.
Illinois (24-10), which played without senior guard Chester Frazier due to a broken right hand, lost for the fifth time in eight games. At least Frazier's classmates could walk away from their final college game knowing they wrung everything from their home white uniforms.
Trent Meacham delivered a season-high 24 points and a career-high 4 steals, while Calvin Brock piled up 14 points and 10 rebounds for his second career double-double.
"Chester has been our leader and the heart of our team all year," Meacham said. "It's tough when you don't have him, especially because he played the most minutes for us all year.
"When you play an entire season with someone like that, he's our iron man, our leader, and we never had to go without him. It was a big blow for us."
Sophomore forward Mike Davis added 12 points and 9 rebounds but rarely received the opportunity to utilize his height advantage in the post.
Seven-foot-1 sophomore center Mike Tisdale failed to score as foul trouble and Western Kentucky's superior quickness made him an anachronism.
The Hilltoppers took control midway through the first half when they drilled 4 consecutive 3-pointers to take a 21-13 lead. After holding a 37-28 halftime advantage, they enjoyed another 3-point blurry to push the margin to 15 points.
"We didn't play with a sense of urgency and intensity until the end," Meacham said. "We made a great run, but we couldn't finish it."
With 12 minutes to go, Illinois slapped on a full-court press in an effort to shake things up.
It didn't work initially, but the Illini forced several turnovers down the stretch and Meacham and Brock kept converting.
With 8.2 seconds left, Meacham's driving layup cut Western Kentucky's lead to 74-72. But Illinois couldn't get a foul until .9 seconds remained, and Anthony Sally swished both shots to clinch it.
<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=280441">Meacham, Brock try but can't do it all<span class="date">[3/20/09]</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>