Brust, local talent sparkle on Big stage

The Big Ten Conference is coming off a bigger than big week in men's basketball, and there's one big Lake County connection.

While unranked but surging Indiana took down No. 1 Kentucky with a buzzer-beater, and the conference placed six teams in the top 25, former Mundelein star guard Ben Brust tied a record for the best long-range shooting performance in league history.

Brust, a sophomore at Wisconsin, hit all 7 of his 3-pointers and 8-of-9 shots overall to finish with 25 points in a win over UNLV on Saturday.

His 7-for-7 shooting performance from 3-point land ties the previous Big Ten record first set by Glen Rice of Michigan in 1989.

It was a welcomed barrage not only for the No. 14 Badgers as a whole, but also for Brust on a personal level. He had been struggling with his shot, hitting just 3-of-13 three-pointers in his previous three games.

"You've got to have shooter's amnesia," Brust said after the UNLV game. "Just let it go and keep firing until you can shoot out of it."

That sounds familiar to Mundelein coach Dick Knar. He can fully vouch for Brust's determination and work ethic.

"When Ben's not making his shot, he'll get into a gym and just work. He's a basketball junkie. If things aren't going well, instead of wondering why, he'll get in the gym and try to fix it," Knar said. "When he starts feeling good with his jumpshot, he can get on one heck of a roll. He had some unbelievable games for us, but at the college level, to play a quality opponent like Wisconsin did in UNLV and to hit every 3-pointer you take, that is just absolutely phenomenal.

"Ben is a kid who deserves everything he gets because he just works so hard."

Brust, who has yet to start a game, now leads Wisconsin (8-2) in scoring at 12.6 points per game, which is quite a change in fortune from just last season.

As a freshman, Brust averaged 0.7 points per game and hit a total of 2-of-10 3-pointers. He played 45 minutes-on the season.

"I am so happy and proud. You always are to see a kid you coached in high school do so well," Knar said. "To go from not playing a lot as a freshman to playing a ton as a sophomore, that's really awesome and Ben has handled it really well.

"The change from high school to major college ball is so dramatic with the strength and speed. It's a difficult adjustment. And you have people ahead of you.

"But I think it was just a matter of time for Ben, and when he got his chance, he really took advantage. I think he'll be big in the Wisconsin rotation for the next three years."

Brust isn't the only former Lake County hoops star who will likely be lighting up the Big Ten in the coming years. The North Suburban Conference is very well represented among the league's leaders.

Former Warren star Brandon Paul, Illinois' Mr. Basketball in 2009, is a big reason No. 19 Illinois boasts the best record in the Big Ten at 10-0.

Paul, a junior guard, is averaging 10.6 points per game and leads his team in assists at 3.4 per game.

While Brust ranks 15th in the Big Ten in scoring, Paul ranks 28th.

Meanwhile, former Zion-Benton star Lenzelle Smith is starting for the second-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes (8-1). The sophomore guard is averaging 21 minutes and about 5 points per game and ranks second on the team in rebounding (4.9 rpg) and steals (1.7 spg).

He has started every game.

Finally, former Lake Forest standout Matt Vogrich is one of the top reserves for No. 20 Michigan (7-2). The junior guard is averaging nearly 12 minutes.

"This is a really exciting time for our conference," Knar said of the North Suburban. "The last six or seven years, the conference has been the strongest it's ever been, and you can see that with some of these guys who have gone on to play major Division I basketball.

"I love that about our conference. It's one of the best around.

"And I just always think it's cool to think about how we played many times against a guy like Lenzelle and a guy like Brandon. I mean, we didn't like playing them at the time, but it's cool now to see them at Ohio State and Illinois and to know that we played against them in our own gym."

Mustangs proud: As Wisconsin guard Ben Brust continued to hit 3-pointer after 3-pointer without a miss Saturday against UNLV, each make rang loudly throughout Madison.

Same could be said in certain parts of Lake County, in the homes of Brust's former teammates.

Brust, who starred at Mundelein and graduated two years ago, had a legion of fans from Illinois glued to their television sets last weekend as he tied the Big Ten record for three-point shooting by nailing all seven of his attempts.

Mundelein coach Dick Knar said many of his current players watched the game.

"Robert (Knar's son and currently Mundelein's leading scorer) was a freshman when Ben was a senior and Ben was just so nice to him and really helped him, so Robert is a big fan of Ben's," Knar said. "Robert was watching the game and was yelling '(Ben) hit another three-pointer, he hit another 3-pointer.'

"Robert is really excited for Ben. All of our guys are. Our guys see the success Ben is having and they're excited about it. They're also excited to know someone on TV."

Brust brought some good publicity to Mundelein. While he was draining all of his three-pointers, legendary sportscaster Brent Musburger dolled out some great details about Brust's high school career.

"Our kids were so excited to hear Brent Musburger talking about Mundelein, Illionis and how Ben had 50 points twice in high school games," Knar said. "That was really cool for them to hear on TV."

Women's side: The most decorated female high school basketball player to come out of Lake County in recent years is Warren's Sarah Boothe.

The 6-foot-5 center and 2008 Illinois Ms. Basketball winner went to Stanford and has been searching for a rhythm while battling injuries and a long-list of all-American teammates for playing time.

Boothe, a redshirt junior, is coming off her best season yet. Last year, she averaged 13 minutes, 5.6 points and 3.2 rebounds per game.

This season, Boothe is once again one of the first players off the bench for Stanford, which is ranked fifth in the nation. Despite a shoulder injury that has slowed her, she is averaging 5.2 points and 2.8 rebounds in nearly 15 minutes of action per game.