Friday, November 23, 2001
Top 25 basketball roundup
No. 2 Illinois 78 , Penn 71
The Associated Press
LAS VEGAS — Illinois saved its best for the second half, and that was good enough to get past Pennsylvania.
Frank Williams scored 22 points to lead No. 2 Illinois to a 78-71 victory over Pennsylvania on Thursday night in the second round of the Las Vegas Invitational.
The Illini (3-0) trailed 45-34 at the half and didn't take the lead until midway through the second half.
Damir Krupalija scored to give the Illini a 61-60 lead with 10:23 remaining. The teams traded baskets until Illinois took the lead for good with 7:06 left.
Nick Smith and Robert Archibald each added 11 points, and Brian Cook had 10 for Illinois, which shot 71 percent from the floor in the second half. Krupalija had 11 rebounds as the Illini outrebounded the Quakers 34-26.
“We dodged a bullet,” Illinois coach Bill Self said. “We were not a very good team in the first half. We were slow and we got into foul trouble.”
Illinois shot 32 percent (8-for-25) in the first half and trailed by as many as 12 points.
“We played better defense in the second half,” Williams said.
The Illini limited the Quakers to 33 percent (9-for-27) shooting in the second half after allowing 57.1 percent in the first half.
Ugonna Onyekwe led Penn (1-1) with 28 points, including four 3-pointers. Koko Archibong added 12 points.
Onyekwe had 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting in the first half, while Illinois was 8-of-25. Archibald was particularly cold, missing three shots under the basket.
Penn also made 7-of-13 3-pointers in the first half, led by Onyekwe and Jeff Schiffner with three apiece.
“Anytime you hold a player to 10 points in a half, I don't know if that's slowing him down,” Self said. “He's a great athlete. Our big men didn't match up with him.”
The Illini stayed in the game by shooting 15-for-20 from the line.
“We knew they would be tougher and tighten up defensively in the second half,” Penn coach Fran Dunphy said. “We had some open looks. I thought we weathered the storm once.
“We didn't take enough advantage in the first half. You know you're not going to shoot like that in the second half.”
The Quakers led 12-10 with 13:27 remaining and scored 10 unanswered points for a 22-10 lead. Archibong scored the first two baskets and Onyewke and David Klatsky hit 3-pointers. Illinois missed four straight shots and turned the ball over once.
“We were flat,” Self said. “It's good to get out of here with a win.”
PENN (1-1) - Onyekwe 10-18 4-5 28, Archibong 4-10 4-4 12, Schiffner 3-8 0-1 9, Toole 3-9 0-0 8, Begley 1-3 1-2 3, Klatsky 1-2 0-0 3, Copp 0-0 0-0 0, Fikiel 2-4 2-4 6, Solomito 0-0 0-0 0, Coates 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 25-55 11-16 71.
ILLINOIS (3-0) - Archibald 3-6 5-6 11, Cook 5-6 0-0 10, Bradford 1-4 3-4 6, Harrington 3-8 0-0 8, Williams 7-15 7-10 22, Melton 0-2 0-0 0, Head 0-0 0-1 0, Ferguson 0-0 0-0 0, Krupalija 2-3 4-5 9, Powell 0-0 1-2 1, Smith 4-5 3-4 11. Totals: 25-49 23-32 78.
Halftime—Penn 45, Illinois 32. 3-Point goals—Penn 10-25 (Onyekwe 4-7, Schiffner 3-6, Toole 2-5, Klatsky 1-2, Bagley 0-1, Fikiel 0-1, Archibong 0-3), Illinois 5-16 (Harrington 2-7, Bradford 1-2, Williams 1-4, Krupalija 1-1, Melton 0-2). Fouled out—Toole. Rebounds—Penn 26 (Onyekwe, Archibong 5), Illinois 34 (Krupalija 11). Assists—Penn 20 (Begley 7), Illinois 14 (Williams 5). Total fouls—Penn 26, Illinois 18. A: NA.
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Top 25 basketball roundup