Illinois routs Indiana in seniors’ final home game
CHAMPAIGN — It’s fair to say the four-year journey hasn’t followed the planned parade route for Illinois’ four seniors.
Nobody counted on zero NCAA Tournament wins and zero Big Ten titles at this point.
But for 40 minutes on Saturday, Bill Cole, Mike Davis, Demetri McCamey and Mike Tisdale enjoyed a drama- and suspense-free Senior Day.
Illinois jumped on Indiana from the opening tip and didn’t let up until the seniors departed to a standing ovation with three minutes left.
The Illini clinched a first-round bye at the Big Ten tournament with a 72-48 win Saturday afternoon at Assembly Hall in their regular-season finale.
Illinois, which gets the No. 4 seed if Minnesota beats Penn State on Sunday, plays Michigan at 1:30 p.m. Friday at Indianapolis.
“Slowly but surely, we’re putting the puzzle back together,” said Illinois coach Bruce Weber. “When Demetri plays — and he’s played pretty well the last two to three weeks — it helps us. There’s no doubt.”
Led by McCamey’s 22 points (his best effort since Jan. 15), the seniors teamed up for 50 points, 23 rebounds, 11 assists, 3 blocks and 4 steals in their final game at the Hall.
“This is our last run and we want to win something,” Tisdale said. “That’s our goal. I think everyone’s been more coachable. We haven’t had the arguments.
“Even Coach was saying, ‘We don’t have to coach attitudes or personalities in the huddle anymore. We just coach basketball.’ I think that’s been a real big key for us and I think it will continue.”
Illinois (19-12, 9-9) played voracious man-to-man defense and limited Indiana (12-19, 3-15) to season lows for points and field-goal percentage (.316).
“I thought our guys played with great energy, especially on the defensive end,” Weber said. “We had a little bit of a game plan and we executed it.”
Sharpshooting point guard Jordan Hulls, who dinged Illinois for a game-high 18 points when Indiana pulled off the 52-49 stunner Jan. 26 in Bloomington, went 0-for-7 from the field and settled for 4 free throws.
Three of his attempts failed to reach the rim as the Illini hounded him off the ball and jumped at him when he motioned to shoot.
Hulls’ hot shooting wasn’t the only bad memory from the first game that inspired the Illini.
When the final buzzer sounded last month, IU coach Tom Crean left the court to hug his wife and kids before doing anything else.
“Last night at film, we used their (fans) storming the court, their coach running to kiss his wife after the game as motivation,” said Davis, who piled up 13 points and 9 rebounds. “How they really didn’t shake our hands and disrespected us.”
This time around, Crean shook a few hands before abruptly breaking out of line. Tisdale and freshman Jereme Richmond coaxed him back to finish the job.
In any case, Crean and the Hoosiers were long gone before Illinois cranked up its postgame ceremony for the seniors.
Just as during the game, nobody missed a note. Except when Weber, forever keeping tabs on his point guard, had to whisper in McCamey’s ear to remind him to thank his mom.
McCamey smiled and grabbed the microphone back from Davis to issue his salutations. He hopes Illini fans will be as forgiving as Mom if the seniors keep rolling.
“It’s the time to do it: March,” McCamey said. “You’ve got to shine in March because nobody will remember what you did early in the season anyway.”