Illinois turns up defense in win over Yale

CHAMPAIGN As Illinois broke the huddle for Tuesday night's nonconference tuneup with Yale, the night's agenda became abundantly clear.

“One, 2, 3, shutouts!” yelled the Illini.

That's Bruce Weber-speak for stopping teams at the defensive end of the floor.

In any given game, he might scream that word more than he yells “Screen!” at his big men and even more than he hollered “Lu-ther!” during the 2004-05 glory year.

The Illini needed to replenish their defensive capital with Weber after surrendering 83 points per game on 44 percent shooting during last week's split at Madison Square Garden.

Sure enough, Illinois' vigorous man-to-man earned shutouts on 10 of Yale's first 11 possessions.

Though it took a long time for the offensive efficiency to match the defensive effort, the 19th-ranked Illini eventually pulled away for a 73-47 victory before approximately 12,000 at Assembly Hall.

D.J. Richardson led Illinois (5-1) with 16 points, while Demetri McCamey stacked up 11 points, 7 assists and 5 rebounds.

Yale (1-3), which won at Boston College last week, shot just 29 percent and committed 22 turnovers as the Illini hounded the Bulldogs as far out as the visitors dared to initiate their offense.

“Take no prisoners. No surrender,” senior center Mike Tisdale said. “That's kind of been our motto the whole year. I think we need to continue that.”

Illinois didn't stray from its initial theme even with the game well in hand.

During a 90-second stretch midway through the second half, the officials whistled Meyers Leonard and Mike Davis for illegal screens.

In years past, Davis might have sulked. After both of these calls, Davis wasted no time imploring his teammates with “shutouts, shutouts, shutouts!”

And when Illinois' lead blossomed to 20 points on Brandon Paul's flying two-hand dunk with 8:08 to go, Weber screamed, “Don't relax!” as Yale went into its next offensive set.

Illinois' secondary agenda involved rehabbing Mike Tisdale's confidence after an iffy trip to New York City. Tisdale produced just 15 points and 10 rebounds against Texas and Maryland as he fouled out of both games in a total of 38 minutes.

The Illini fed Tisdale early and often against Yale, but he couldn't find the mark with his reliable jump hook. Tisdale even missed everything on one 8-foot post flip.

Tisdale did enjoy a stellar night on the boards. He tied his career best with 13 rebounds even though he played just 24 minutes.