No Illini letdown in win over Wisconsin
CHAMPAIGN - Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan paid Demetri McCamey a nice compliment by deciding Joe Krabbenhoft, a member of the Big Ten's 2008 All-Defensive team, needed to guard him from the start.
Krabbenhoft had 4 inches and two years of experience on McCamey, but Illinois' sophomore point guard kept taking him to the bank.
McCamey piled up a season-high 25 points and a game-high 7 assists to steer No. 25 Illinois to a 64-57 Big Ten victory on Saturday afternoon before a sellout crowd at Assembly Hall.
"I was just able to beat him off the dribble," McCamey said. "They knew I was coming in to look for some shots and they tried to put a bigger defender on me to contest shots.
"I just went off the bounce and found my teammates."
Mike Davis added 10 points and 8 rebounds as the Illini (17-3, 5-2) not only snapped a five-game losing streak to Wisconsin, but exceeded last year's win total and pulled within a half-game of Michigan State for the Big Ten lead.
"We're just trying to take care of business game by game," said senior guard Chester Frazier, "but obviously we want to compete for a Big Ten championship."
That becomes more realistic each time Illinois brings maximum defensive effort to the floor.
For the fifth game in a row, the Illini held their foe to either their lowest or second-lowest point total of the year.
Wisconsin (12-7, 3-4), which has lost four straight regular-season games for the first time since 1998, shot just 36 percent from the field.
Though Krabbenhoft led the Badgers with 16 points and 12 rebounds, junior guard Jason Bohannon and sixth man Jon Leuer combined for 4 points in 46 minutes. That's 17 below their combined average.
"We kept saying, 'Win it on the defensive end,' " said Illinois coach Bruce Weber. "I think that's what it came down to."
Well, that and McCamey's creative work offensively.
On a day when the Illini got virtually nothing in transition and second-chance points, it was generally up to McCamey to make things happen.
Not only did he either score or assist on 13 of Illinois' 21 baskets,he finished with career highs for free throws (11) and free-throw attempts (13).
The latter stats are especially relevant because McCamey earned just 13 free-throw attempts in Illinois' last eight games combined.
"The thing I liked, Demetri got his points not all from the 3s," Weber said. "He got a couple of 3s, but he got to the free-throw line, got to the paint.
"We've really emphasized the past couple games when we get points in the paint, usually we have success."
Now Illinois has to start working on managing success.
Davis, for example, used the phrase "NCAA Tournament" after the game as if it's a fait accompli for the Illini.
"No, we've still got a ways to go," McCamey said. "If we don't win a game right now, we'd be 17 and I-don't-know-what and on the bubble where we're not going to get in the NIT.
"So we've still got to get better and still got to win games."