Nov. 15, 2008

Champaign, Ill. -

Illinois Men's Basketball Game Notes vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in PDF Format

FIGHTING ILLINI BASKETBALL
Game #2: Illinois (1-0) vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (1-0)
Nov. 16, 2008 // 4:30 p.m. CT // Champaign, Ill. // Assembly Hall (16,618)

On the Air
Video Stream
www.BigTenNetwork.com

Radio
Illini Sports Network - 44 stations: Brian Barnhart, play-by-play; Jerry Hester, expert analyst; Loren Tate pregame/halftime/ postgame interviews.

Illini Probable Starters
G - 32  Demetri McCamey    So., 6-3, 205     11.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 3.0 apg
G - 1   Trent Meacham      r-Sr., 6-2, 195   18.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg
G - 3   Chester Frazier    Sr., 6-2, 195     13.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 4.0 apg, 2.0 spg
  F - 24  Mike Davis -OR-  So., 6-9, 210     6.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 2.0 apg
  G - 25  Calvin Brock     r-Sr., 6-5, 200   1.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg
C - 54  Mike Tisdale       So., 7-1, 235     8.0 ppg, 6.0 rpg
Off the Bench

G - 13  Jeff Jordan        So., 6-1, 185     4.0 ppg, 1.0 rpg
G - 15  Bubba Chisholm     Jr., 5-11, 180    0.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg
C - 21  Stan Simpson       Fr., 6-9, 220
F - 23  Dominique Keller   Jr., 6-7, 230     0.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg
F - 30  Bill Cole          So., 6-9, 215     2.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg
G - 33  Alex Legion        So., 6-5, 200     ineligible due to transfer rules
F - 34  C.J. Jackson       r-Jr., 6-8, 265   0.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg
C - 50  Richard Semrau     r-So., 6-10, 240  3.0 ppg, 6.0 rpg

Illinois Head Coach Bruce Weber
Overall Record: 232-101/.697 (11th year)
At Illinois: 129-47/.733 (6th year)
Big Ten: 53-29/.646
Vs. Texas A&M-CC: 0-0
Assistant Coaches: Wayne McClain (8th year), Jay Price (6th year), Jerrance Howard (2nd year)
Assistant to the Head Coach: Gary Nottingham (6th year)
  Director of Basketball Operations: Sean Harrington (1st year)
  Trainer: Al Martindale (26th year at Illinois)

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Head Coach: Perry Clark
Overall Record: 260-219/.543 (16th year)
At Texas A&M-CC: 10-20/.333 (2nd year)
Vs. Illinois: 0-0
Assistant Coaches: Billy Garrett, Brian Merritt, Kevin Norris

Series Notes: Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
This is the second meeting all-time between Illinois and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. The Illini won the previous match-up at the Assembly Hall on Dec. 1, 2001 by the score of 80-56.

Illini in the South Padre Island Invitational
Sunday's matchup with Texas A&M-Corpus Christi is the first of four games Illinois will play as part of South Padre Island Invitational. In addition to the Islanders, the Illini also host Jackson State (Nov. 23) in Champaign as part of the tournament before heading to South Padre Island, Texas, for the final two games over Thanksgiving weekend (vs. Kent State on Nov. 28 and vs. Texas A&M or Tulsa on Nov. 29).

This year marks Illinois' second appearance in the South Padre Island Invitational. The Illini won the tournament in November 2005 with victories over Texas-Pan American, Texas Southern, Wichita State and Rutgers.

Last Time Out: Eastern Washington
Illinois opened its 104th season of men's basketball on Friday night at the Assembly Hall, defeating Eastern Washington by the score of 66-50. The Illini and the Eagles were tied at 35 at halftime, but the Orange and Blue pulled away thanks to a 25-6 run over the first 13:44 of the second half to take a commanding 60-41 lead with 6:16 remaining. Illinois held the double-figure advantage the rest of the way in winning its 10th straight season opener.

Guards Trent Meacham, Chester Frazier and Demetri McCamey accounted for 64 percent of Illinois' scoring on the night, combining for 42 points. Meacham had a game-high 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting, including 3-of-4 from 3-point range, Frazier scored 13 points and McCamey came off the bench to add 11.

Notes from the Opener
• Illinois held Eastern Washington to just five field goals and 15 points in the second half.

• In addition to outscoring Eastern Washington 31-15 in the second half, the Illini also outrebounded the Eagles 23-14 after intermission.

• Eastern Washington shot 29.8 percent for the game (17-57), the lowest percentage by an Illini opponent since Loyola-MD shot an Assembly Hall record-low 20 percent (13-65) on Dec. 28, 2007. The Eagles also made just 19 percent (4-21) from 3-point land.

• Mike Davis earned his first career start.

• Richard Semrau and Mike Tisdale each posted a career-high six rebounds, while Davis tied his career high with five boards.

• With his 13 points, Chester Frazier reached double figures for the first time since scoring 19 at Hawaii on Nov. 16, 2007.

• Frazier made a career-high seven free throws.

• Davis (28) and Tisdale (22) set career highs for minutes, while Jeff Jordan (15) tied his career high in minutes.

• Junior college transfer Dominique Keller and walk-on Bubba Chisholm made their Illini debuts.

For complete set of Illinois men's basketball game notes, click on .pdf link at top of this page.