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Men's Basketball
Illinois Game Notes vs. Eastern Washington
Nov. 13, 2008
Champaign, Ill. - Illinois Men's Basketball Game Notes vs. Eastern Washington in PDF Format
FIGHTING ILLINI BASKETBALL On the Air Radio Illini Probable Starters (averages listed are from 2007-08 season) G - 32 Demetri McCamey So., 6-3, 205 8.2 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 3.3 apg G - 1 Trent Meacham r-Sr., 6-2, 195 10.1 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 2.3 apg G - 3 Chester Frazier Sr., 6-2, 195 4.9 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 3.6 apg F - 24 Mike Davis -OR- So., 6-9, 210 2.6 ppg, 1.8 rpg G - 25 Calvin Brock r-Sr., 6-5, 200 7.4 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 1.3 apg C - 54 Mike Tisdale So., 7-1, 235 3.6 ppg, 1.7 rpg Illinois Head Coach Bruce Weber Eastern Washington Head Coach: Kirk Earlywine Illini in Season Openers Last Time Out: Exhibition Play Trent Meacham had a game-high 17 points in the victory over Florida Southern, hitting 5-of-9 shots, including 4-of-6 from 3-point range. Mike Davis scored 11 off the bench while Calvin Brock nearly recorded a double-double, finishing with 10 points and a game-high eight rebounds. Mike Davis led all scorers in the win over Lewis, tallying a game-high 18 points on 5-of-9 shooting. Demetri McCamey added 16 including two key 3-pointers late to lead the Illini to victory. In a game where both teams struggled from the field, the battle of the boards was the difference as the Illini outrebounded Lewis 46-34, led by Chester Frazier's game-high 10 boards. Quick Look at the Exhibition Numbers • Mike Davis led the Illini in scoring and field goal percentage, averaging 14.5 points on 55.6 percent shooting (10-18). • Demetri McCamey and Trent Meacham also scored in double figures, each averaging 10.0 points. • Calvin Brock was the team's top rebounder, averaging 7.5 boards. • Illinois' defense held the opposition to an average of 58.5 points on 38.7 percent shooting, including 27.5 percent from 3-point range. Illini Headlines • Senior Trent Meacham is the Illini's leading returning scorer. Meacham was second on the team in scoring in 2007-08 (10.1 ppg) and led the Illini and ranked 11th in the Big Ten in 3-point field goal percentage (.400). He started 31 games last season, scoring in double figures 18 times, and was the UI's top scorer in eight games on the year. • Senior Chester Frazier started 29 games last season and led the Illini in minutes, averaging 33.4 mpg. He averaged 4.9 points and led the team in assists, ranking sixth in the Big Ten with 3.6 apg. Frazier is Illinois' top defender and leading returning rebounder after ranking third on the team with an average of 4.9 rebounds last season. • Sophomore Demetri McCamey came on strong last season as a true-freshman. He started 17 games and was fourth on the team in scoring with an average of 8.2 points. He led the Illini in assists during conference play (3.9 apg) and earned Big Ten All-Tournament Team honors. • In addition to the three returning starters, Illinois returns seven other letterwinners in senior Calvin Brock, junior C.J. Jackson, and sophomores Bill Cole, Mike Davis, Jeff Jordan, Richard Semrau and Mike Tisdale. • Illinois has four newcomers on the roster: Junior Dominique Keller, from Lee College in Baytown, Texas, freshman Stan Simpson from Chicago Simeon High School, sophomore Alex Legion, who transferred from Kentucky in January and is sitting out the first half of this season per NCAA rules, and junior walk-on Andrew "Bubba" Chisholm. • Illinois has played in front of 60 consecutive sellout crowds at the Assembly Hall, a streak that began on Dec. 1, 2004. Illinois Signs Nationally Ranked Recruiting Class Richardson, a 6-3 guard from Peoria, is enrolled at Findlay College Prep in Henderson, Nev. after previously attending Central High School. He earned second-team All-State honors last season after averaging 17.8 points and six rebounds. Paul is a 6-3 guard from Gurnee, attending Warren Township High School. He earned first-team All-State honors as a junior after averaging 20 points and six rebounds. Griffey is a 6-9 forward from Wildwood, Mo. and attends Lafayette High School. He was a Class 5 All-State selection after averaging 17.8 points, 8.7 rebounds and 2.8 blocks last season. Bertrand is a 6-5 guard from Sterling High School. He averaged 14.3 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.7 assists as a junior, earning second-team All-State accolades. Recapping Last Season • Illinois ranked 19th in the nation in scoring defense last year, allowing an average of just 61.1 points on the season. The Illini also ranked 24th in field goal percentage defense, holding opponents to 39.9 percent shooting on the year. • Two areas that have been stressed in practices this fall have been free throw shooting and focusing on finishing. Illinois was last in the Big Ten in free throw percentage last year at 60.8 percent. Illinois either led or was tied at halftime in all but eight games last season. The Illini led during the second half in 10 losses and either led, were tied or trailed by one basket with less than two minutes remaining in 10 losses. Thirteen of Illinois' losses were by eight points or less. • The close games continued throughout the season. Although Illinois tied for ninth place with a conference record of 5-13 last year, the Illini were only outscored by a total of three points over the entire 18-game Big Ten schedule (-0.2 ppg). • Illinois faced one of the most difficult schedules in the country last year. The Illini had the No. 23-rated strength of schedule in the nation and played 14 games against teams ranked in the Top 50 of the RPI. Texas was the only school to play more top 50 RPI opponents. For complete set of Illinois men's basketball game notes, click on .pdf link at top of this page.
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