Illinois 79, UCLA 70 Postgame

#476      

MDchicago

Lake Norman NC
5. Wake Forest 2004 - Up by 32 against the #1 team in the country on national TV from a raucous Assembly Hall. Our first true taste of how that season would be.

Second true taste. The dominating performance the game before (leading by 31 points at halftime, and setting tournament records for assists (24 on 34 baskets), steals and 3FGs in a game) against #24 Gonzaga (Adam Morrison, Ronny Turiaf era) was just great basketball vs. a top 25 team and a precursor of what was to come.

"We were thoroughly dominated today, in every phase of the game," Bulldogs coach Mark Few said. "There were times it didn't appear we belonged out there on the court." Link

To tie it into a UCLA thread (Link), game was in the Wooden Tradition:

"After ripping through the #24 ranked Bulldogs, leading by 31 points at halftime, the Illini were presented with the Wooden Tradition trophy by none other than Wooden... On that day Wooden reaped rare praise for the exploits of the Illini, noting along the lines that he had not seen such a solid and selfless performance from a team in a long time. Wooden congratulated the efforts of players like Luther Head, Dee Brown and Deron Williams, and told Bruce Weber that he had himself quite a fine team. Despite the age gap, the Illini players soaked up Wooden’s respect for them, with Brown – the face of Illinois basketball – even genuinely hugging the old man."

Fear at the time was that they can't possibly play that well again the next game vs. #1 Wake Forest, but they sure did. Good times!
 
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#477      

drsmitty74

Rochester
Been watching Illini basketball for 65 yrs. and there are 4 games I remember vividly.
1. Fall or 73 when Dick Vitale brought an undefeated Detroit team to Assembly Hall. They had a kid scoring 25 per game. Two kids I knew well from my hometown, Otho Tucker and Brad Farnham, started for the Illini. Farnham guarded their star and held him to 4 pts or so as the Illini cruised to a win.
2. Flyin Illini of '89, my favorite team ever. They provided so many wonderful moments and amazing play. But it was the loss to Cheatigan after they beat them soundly twice that is so disappointing....still. Should never have happened.
3. Of course, the most amazing and unbelievable was the '05 Illini and their comeback victory against my Alma Mater...the Arizona Wildcats. I will never forget where I was and how my attention grew as I periodically glanced at the restaurant's TV and the disappearing margin. I root for the Wildcats to win every athletic contest...except when they play my Illini hoopsters for which I have had an crazy affinity for 65 years.
4. This UCLA game, and the play of TSJ and Sincere ranks with all of those and will be fondly recalled as long as I live and breathe. Nothing else to say.
Nick Anderson's last second dagger sending Bobby Knight crying at Bloomington. That's the one for me
 
#478      

drsmitty74

Rochester
You know, shooting a basketball is not something just everyone can do, especially with D1 athletes trying to stop you.

When I was at the fair alma mater I remember talking about basketball in a Motor Control class, and scientists don't really know how a person knows how to shoot a ball. It is just that mind body connection that tells a guy to shoot at this arc and with this much force. Some guys can work forever and will never be an above average shooter.

That said, practice will help, but not everyone is capable of ever becoming a 40%+ 3 pt shooter or 80%+ from the stripe. The announcers were going on and on about Terrance Shannon but he shot 83% on FT as a Fr and improved his 3 pt shooting every year, being over 38% last year. So he wasn't starting as a bad shooter like they seemed to be trying to make him out.

Sidenote, am I the only person that thought it was hilarious that he wakes up at 4:20.
Terrance, do you have something to tell us? lol
I'm sure pru wakes to 420 rather often as well.
 
#479      
Illinois #3 vs. MSU #1 January 1979. Eddie vs. Magic. Eddie for the win.
+1000

I'll add another one that is a bit under the radar - UI vs Oklahoma in December '84. I think we were still ranked #2 and we won 73-70 against a top 10 Oklahoma team. Crowd was amazingly loud and I remember Tom Schafer coming off the bench to have a big game
 
#481      
5. Wake Forest 2004 - Up by 32 against the #1 team in the country on national TV from a raucous Assembly Hall. Our first true taste of how that season would be.
I would put that at 5 also....but that game was expected and was no surprise in any way, except to every hoops scribe and expert who had paid no attention.
 
#482      
Nick Anderson's last second dagger sending Bobby Knight crying at Bloomington. That's the one for me
Yes, a wonderful moment for Illini historians....except we beat the Hoosiers so often is is difficult for an to stand out. Just the way things are supposed to be in life....for and Illini fan!!!
 
#487      
I'll always remember the 2000 game against Seton Hall when we were down 17 at half because I left the house to go do other stuff and they came back and won

This is the game that came to mind for me too. I had student season tickets and that comeback was so much fun. Frank made a big shot late where he switched hands in midair and made a lefty floater (around 4:00 in the video)

 
#489      
Yes, a wonderful moment for Illini historians....except we beat the Hoosiers so often is is difficult for an to stand out. Just the way things are supposed to be in life....for and Illini fan!!!
I'm glad things have changed somewhat. The Illini were 1-7 against Indiana when i was on campus in early 80s so the 21 pt. victory on 2-9-80 stands out to me. The Hall was rocking!
 
#491      
This is the game that came to mind for me too. I had student season tickets and that comeback was so much fun. Frank made a big shot late where he switched hands in midair and made a lefty floater (around 4:00 in the video)

His Frankness! How fun was it when he took over a game. And Lucas was phenomenal there. Great clip, thanks for sharing.