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Men's Basketball
Illinois Game Notes vs. Wisconsin
Jan. 8, 2008
Champaign, Ill. - Illinois Men's Basketball Game Notes vs. Wisconsin in PDF Format
FIGHTING ILLINI BASKETBALL On the Air Radio Illini Probable Starters Off the Bench Illinois Head Coach Bruce Weber Wisconsin Head Coach: Bo Ryan Series Notes: Wisconsin The teams will meet again in Champaign on Feb. 20. Tough Road Taking on the Top 25 Illinois owns a record of 17-16 vs. Top 25 teams under Weber. The Wisconsin and Indiana games mark the first time Illinois will play ranked teams in back-to-back games since Jan. 20 and 23, 2006, when the Illini faced the same two programs, hosting the 2nd-ranked Badgers (L, 71-64) and 23rd-ranked Hoosiers (W, 51-43). The last time Illinois played consecutive games on the road against ranked opponents was nine years ago -- Jan. 3 and 7, 1999 -- at No. 8 Indiana (L, 62-53) and at No. 17 Iowa (L, 84-62). Oh So Close Illini Notes ... • Losing streaks have been extremely rare during Bruce Weber's five-year tenure at Illinois. This is only the second time under Weber that the Illini have lost three straight games. The program has never lost more than three in a row under Weber and has dropped back-to-back games just four times. • Only four opponents have score more than 70 points against the Illini this season (last: Ohio State on Jan. 3, 74 pts). • Illinois has not allowed an opponent to score 80 or more points in 41 consecutive games. The last team to do so was Arizona on Dec. 2, 2006 (84 points). • Illinois has only had one opponent this season shoot better than 46 percent from the field (Duke on Nov. 20, 56.5%). • Illinois has outrebounded its opponent in 11 of 15 games and ranks fifth in the Big Ten in rebound margin at +4.5 rpg. • Demetri McCamey is averaging 11.5 points on 44.7 percent shooting from the field and 42.1 percent from 3-point range over the last four games. • Chester Frazier has an assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.5 over the last four games (20 a/8 to). • Shaun Pruitt is averaging 13.7 points (82) and shooting 59.6 percent over the last six games (31-52). • Illinois played seven road/neutral games during non-conference play, tied for the second-highest total of road/neutral games among BCS schools. • Shaun Pruitt has scored at least nine points in all but two games this season. • Pruitt was named Big Ten Co-Player of the Week on Dec. 24 after averaging 16.3 points and 10.3 rebounds over three games vs. Western Carolina, Miami (OH) and Missouri. He became the first Illini to earn Player of the Week honors since James Augustine on Dec. 5, 2005. • Pruitt scored in double figures for five consecutive games before the streak was snapped vs. Tennessee State (Dec. 30) when he finished with seven points. During the streak, Pruitt totaled 24 points vs. Arizona and Miami (OH), 16 vs. Loyola (MD), 14 vs. Missouri and 11 vs. Western Carolina. Over that five-game stretch, he averaged 17.8 points and 10.2 rebounds. Pruitt returned to double figures Thursday vs. Ohio State on Jan. 3, finishing with 12 points. • Brian Randle averaged 12.4 points over a five-game stretch prior to Dec. 30. He left the Tennessee State game late in the first half after suffering a mild concussion. Randle returned to action vs. Ohio State on Jan. 3 and scored a team-high 14 points in a career-high 37 minutes. • Pruitt and Randle combined for 38 points vs. Miami on Dec. 20, the duo's highest scoring total this season. • Chester Frazier is averaging 4.9 assists over the last 10 games (49) after averaging just 2.6 assists over the first five games (13). He tied his season high with six assists vs. Tennessee State on Dec. 30 and Penn State on Jan. 6. • Shaun Pruitt leads the Big Ten in offensive rebounds with an average of 3.7 per game (56 total off. reb.). He ranks fourth in the league in total rebounds (8.1 avg). • Pruitt has started every game over the past two-and-a-half seasons, entering the Wisconsin game with an active streak of 83 consecutive starts. • There have been 53 consecutive sellout crowds at the Assembly Hall entering the next home game vs. Michigan on Jan. 16. The streak began on Dec. 6, 2004. Legion Joins Illini Legion, a 6-5, 195-pound guard, hails from Detroit. He spent three years at Country Day High School before attending Oak Hill Academy as a senior. Legion was a 2007 Parade Magazine All-American after averaging 19.6 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.8 steals at Oak Hill, where he shot 53 percent from the field, 42 percent from 3-point range and 85 percent from the free throw line. He also was a two-time first-team Class B All-State selection in 2005 and 2006 at Country Day by the Associated Press, Detroit News and Detroit Free Press. Legion played in a total of six games last semester at Kentucky, starting twice. He averaged 6.7 points, 1.8 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.5 steals in 17.5 minutes per game. Last Time Out: Penn State Demetri McCamey scored a career-high 18 points to lead the Illini, while Calvin Brock also scored in double figures with a season-high 15 points. Lock Down "D" No team has reached 80 points on the Illini this season, with just four opponents topping the 70-point marker. Illinois' defense also has allowed only one team (Duke) to shoot over 46 percent from the field. Dominating the Glass Bench Production Player Opponent Points Calvin Brock Hawaii (N 16) 11 Demetri McCamey Hawaii (N 16) 10 Calvin Brock Duke (N 20) 14 Trent Meacham Oklahoma State (N 21) 17 Trent Meacham Weber State (D 1) 26 Mike Tisdale Western Carolina (D 17) 13 Demetri McCamey Ohio State (J 3) 10 Demetri McCamey Penn State (J 6) 18 *For complete set of Illinois men's basketball game notes, click on .pdf link at top of this page.
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