Illinois has the home field advantage, as this game is in Chicago. You can hear them in the crowd, and they are the six man. Illinois starts out hot, hitting a couple of treys to start off the game. 8-4 Illinois.
7:25: Arizona isn't playing games tonight. They seem to have a little attitude, as if they have something to prove. They go on a 10-0 run, and then here's Luther Head with a big three to cut the lead to one, 12-11 Zona. Plenty of time left in the half.
7:35: Both teams are playing hard so far in this game and are putting up a high amount so far. It reminds me of "The Contender" where they are evenly matched and the one that stays the busiest will win the game. Illi up by one but that could change at any moment.
7:45: This is becoming a game between the sharpshooters vs. the beasts. Illinois continues to hit their shots from the perimeter and Zona is killing the boards in absence of Stoudamire's contributions. Illi is getting the better of them right now, as they lead by five.
7:50: Arizona has gone cold for a bit. Illinois has adjusted to their points in the front court and are keeping them from penetrating. Illinois leads by seven with 3:13 left in the half.
8:00: Illinois's D got a little lax for a second, and Zona is taking advantage of it. Stoudamire hasn't done anything in this game, as he has two points on fts. It is good to see everyone else for Zona stepping up, and that's precisely what Kellogg and Davis, to their credit, said Zona needed to do.
Zona's Shakur hits a nice floater to end the half. 38-36 Illinois leads at the half. They can't be happy to only lead by two with Stoudamire not contributing anything in this game so far.
8:25: Second half starts. Let's see if Stoudamire will join the rest of his teammates. Right now Zona is pushing the ball through the lane and drawing the foul. Stoudamire misses his first fg of the half, but Zona is showing a lot of hustle. Zona leads by one early.
8:30: Is Stoudamire ever out of his range? I don't think so. He hit a three that was a good six feet behind the arc. That and a Radenovic three puts Zona up by six. Illinois can't let these guys get hot, or they'll run away with it.
8:37: Illinois gains momentum, and eventually ties it up. Illini's Augustine is having a good day. But so are Radenovic and Frye, who are making up for Stoudamire's lost production. Zona up by one with 12:14 left.
8:45: I am really impressed with Channing Frye. He is really exposing Illinois in the interior and is making key baskets to keep Illinois behind in this game. Meanwhile, Deron Williams is putting up some clutch shots. Illinois's perimeter defense is solid and creating turnovers, but they are leaving the paint open. Illi leads 64-58 with 7:30 left.
8:55: Channing Frye is killing them. Now he's hit a three pointer after dominating in the paint so long. Hey; big time players step up for big time games, and Frye is showing some people he's a big time player. Illinois meanwhile has abandoning any attempts to feed it down low on the offensive end, and almost half of their attempts today have been beyond the arc. You guys aren't West Virginia. Illinois leads 73-60 with 4:54 left.
9:02: Okay, I'd just like to say that I had UNC vs. Arizona playing in the national championship in all of my brackets. Just want to make sure everyone knows that in advance. Deron Williams finally gives Illi their first three, but methinks this is too little too late. 75-63 with Zona going to the line and 3:28 left in the game. Time is running out.
9:10: This game isn't exactly over yet. Zona has to get the ball down the court and stop giving up turnovers in the backcourt. That's been their one problem in this game.
McClellan to the line....misses first ft....hits second, 78-70...now 78-72 with 1:03 left. Zona is pulling the same thing Carolina did last night.
9:13: Luther Head hits the three, but then they get the steal on an obvious foul and get the layup. Zona's blown a 14 pt lead and it's cut to three with 45 ticks left.
Maaaaan I can't understand why the refs aren't calling those obvious fouls. That's twice Stoud was fouled in the back court.
ANOTHER OVERTIME: Wow. I'd be really pissed if I was Stoudamire right now. The refs allowed it to turn into a mugging for Illinois to get back into this game.
9:22: Illinois continues to shoot it well behind the arc. Zona has lost focus but Channing Frye is trying to get them back to the post game. Illinois is up by one with 3:02 in OT.
9:25: Zona looks like the wind has just been knocked out of them. But Hassan Adams gets a chance for a three-point play. ...he....hits the ft, cutting it to three with 1:30.
9:28: Adams has decided to carry this team on his back. He grabs a huge offensive rebound and gets the putback. 90-89 Illinois with 34.5 left on the clock.
9:30: Luther Head slashes, but can't finish. Adams AGAIN with the rebound, and they call TO at half court with 11.8 left. This could be the game right here.
- Adams held the ball too long, tried to shoot the three at the end, missed, couldn't put it back up in time, Illinois won 90-89.
Crying shame how they won it though. Referees are there to make sure the game isn't a mess, and that's exactly what happened in the fourth quarter. If someone is able to get a turnover with any kind of body contact, the referee isn't doing their job. Period.
