University of Minnesota Athletics
MBB: Top-Ranked Illinois Defeats Gophers 89-66 In Champaign
1/29/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Vincent Grier led four Gophers in double figures with 17 points and a team-high eight rebounds.
Illinois' three-point shooting killed the Gophers from the outset. Luther Head and Roger Powell Jr. hit threes in the opening minutes to take a 10-1 lead. Jeff Hagen stopped the bleeding with a three-point play and the Gophers trailed 10-4. However, Deron Williams hit a 20-foot jumper and James Augustine scored to cap a 6-0 Illinois run and Minnesota trailed by 12 just five minutes into the game.
The Gophers kept scrapping and pulled to 20-12 on a Rico Tucker running jumper. The run was quickly quelled by two treys from Williams and one from Dee Brown and Illinois was up 29-12 with 10:45 to go. Minnesota calmly rebounded with a 7-0 run of its own. Spencer Tollackson had two baskets and Tucker nailed a three to pull the Gophers back at 29-19.
The Gophers would get no closer the rest of the game as the Illini shooting picked up again. Overall, Illinois drilled 7-of-11 treys in the first 16 minutes. Williams and Luther Head hit consecutive treys and Illinois led 39-21. A J'son Stamper three-point play pulled the Gophers to 41-26 but Illinois scored the final six points of the half and took a 47-26 halftime lead.
The Gophers showed a brief push early in the second half when Aaron Robinson hit a three to get Minnesota within 16 at 53-37 with 16:18 on the clock but Illinois built up its lead from there. Six straight points from Powell gave Illinois a 68-44 lead with 10:27 to go. Tucker cut the score to 70-52 with a layup at the 9:00 mark but Illinois stretched its lead to a game-high 26 at 82-56 with 5:32 left.
The Gophers had just 12 turnovers and shot a reasonable 39 percent from the floor but Illinois was extremely efficient. The nation's top team shot 56 percent from the floor and made 10 three-point field goals. Illinois also out-rebounded the Gophers 37-31.
Tucker scored 12 points and dished four assists while Dan Coleman scored 11 points. Jeff Hagen had 10 points and six rebounds.
Four Illini scored in double figures, led by Powell with 21. Williams had 18 points, six assists and five rebounds and made 4-of-5 threes. James Augustine had 15 points and Head added 10.
The Gophers head to Ann Arbor, Mich. for a key Big Ten road game on Wednesday night at 7 p.m.
