Feb. 6, 2007

Game 23: ILL-PUR Game Notes in PDF Format
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 Game 23: Illinois (16-6, 6-4) at #13/13 Purdue (20-4, 9-1)
Thursday, Feb. 8, 2007  //  7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT  //  Mackey Arena (14,123)  //  West Lafayette, Ind.

On The Air
Radio:    Illini Sports Network - WDWS AM 1400 and WDAN AM 1490 - LIVE - (Dave Loane and Derek Neal)
Internet:    Fightingillini.com live streaming audio and Gametracker

The Series
Purdue leads 38-15 overall and 20-4 in West Lafayette
Last season: #11/11 PUR 57, ILL 53 (1/22/2006 @ Champaign, Ill.) and #14/11 PUR 68, ILL 57 (3/3/06 @ Indianapolis, Ind.)

The Coaches
Illinois:    Theresa Grentz, 668-305 overall (33rd season), 207-150 at Illinois (12th season)
Purdue:    Sharon Versyp, 137-69 overall (7th season), 20-4 at Purdue (1st season)

Quick Hits
• For Openers: The tough schedule continues for the Fighting Illini (16-6, 6-4), who head to West Lafayette, Ind., Thursday night to face the 13th-ranked Purdue Boilermakers (20-4, 9-1). Illinois, who coming off an 80-70 defeat at #23 Michigan State on Sunday, is in the midst of a three-game stretch against ranked opponents. Purdue enters the game with a 9-1 Big Ten record, which is good for second place behind undefeated Ohio State. The Boilermakers had the weekend off after a narrow 58-55 victory at Minnesota last Thursday.

• Illini Trends: This year the Fighting Illini are...
...13-0 when allowing less than 60 points
...5-0 when coming off a loss
...10-1 when scoring at least 70 points
...15-1 when leading at halftime
...13-1 when shooting more FTs than their opponent
...5-5 on the road
...0-2 against ranked opponents

• D-Fence: Defense has been the key to Illinois' solid play. The Fighting Illini lead the conference and rank second in the nation in three-point FG percentage defense (.240) and rank ninth in the nation and second in the conference in overall FG percentage defense (.348). The Orange and Blue have allowed only three opponents to shoot over 40 percent in a game this season.

• Board Domination: Illinois has been dominant on the glass this season, leading the Big Ten in rebounding offense, rebounding margin and defensive rebounds for both all games and conference games only. Individually, freshman Jenna  Smith leads the Big Ten in offensive rebounds (3.40) and is fourth in overall rebounds (8.4) in conference play. The Illini have out-rebounded their opponent in 16 of 22 games, including 12 of the last 14.

• Trey-mendous: Illinois ranks third in the Big Ten in 3FG made per game (5.55) and fourth in 3FG percentage (.358). Lori Bjork leads the way, hitting 63-of-154, which makes her the conference leader and ranks her eighth in the nation in three's made per game (2.86) and second in the conference and 30th in the nation in 3FG percentage (.409).

• Bouncing Back: Illinois will be looking to improve to 6-0 in games following a loss when they battle Purdue Thursday night. After each of their five losses this season, the Fighting Illini have bounced back with a victory in their next game. Illinois rattled off three-game and five-game winning streaks after its first two losses, and bounced back from its first three Big Ten losses with at least one victory.

• Giant Killers: Entering the season, Illinois had beaten at least one ranked opponent in each of the last 12 seasons. Last year, the Illini toppled 15th-ranked Oklahoma 86-75 to extend the streak. So far this season, the Illini are 0-2 against ranked foes, falling to No. 5 Ohio State on 1/21 and No. 23 Michigan State on 2/4. Illinois still has four games left against teams currently in the AP or the ESPN/USA Today Coaches top-25 polls.

Illini in the NCAA Rankings
According to the Feb. 4 NCAA Statistical rankings, the Fighting Illini rank in the top-50 in the country in 10 categories. Most notably, the Orange and Blue rank fifth in personal fouls per game (13.5), ninth in FG percentage defense (.348), 16th in rebounding margin (+7.6) and 21st in free throw shooting (.749).

Individually, Lori Bjork comes in at eighth in 3FG made per game (2.9) and 30th in 3FG percentage (.409), while Lacey Simpson is ranked 51st in steals per game (2.6).

Three-D
The NCAA does show three-point field goal percentage defense in its statistical rankings, but according to research done by the UNLV sports information department, Illinois ranks second in the nation that category. Here is a list of the top teams in the nation at defending the three as of Feb. 5.
 
Rk. Team (3FG% Def.)
1. Prairie View A&M (.225)
2. Illinois (.240)
3. Maryland-Eastern Shore (.242)     
4t. UCONN (.244)
4t. South Carolina St. (.244)   

Big Ten Pace Setters
In Big Ten games, Illinois leads the league in four categories:  3FG% defense (.227), rebounding offense (41.2), rebounding margin (+6.9), and defensive rebounds (29.20). The Illini rank in the top-four in 14-of-19 statistical categories.

In all games, the Illini lead the league in the same four categories: 3FG% defense (.240), rebounding offense (42.1), rebounding margin (+7.6), and defensive rebounds (30.14); while also ranking in the top-four in 14-of-19 categories.

Bjork's Going Streakin'
According to a list compiled by the Texas Christian University sports information office, Illini sophomore Lori Bjork's streak of 29 straight games with at least one three-pointer made is the fourth longest active streak in the nation. Additionally, Bjork's string of 22 consecutive games with at least two three-pointers made is the longest current streak in the nation. Below is a list of the longest active consecutive three-point streaks in the country as of Feb. 5.

Rk. Name (Streak)
1 Jackie Closser, Butler (49)
2  Ashley Davis, TCU (42)
3  Rashida Suber, Coppin State (39)
4  Lori Bjork, Illinois (29)
5  Ivory Latta, North Carolina (26)

Scouting the Boilers
No. 13/13 Purdue enters Thursday's game 20-4 overall and 9-1 in the Big Ten, which puts PU in second place behind undefeated Ohio State. The Boilermakers haven't played since last Thursday, when they narrowly beat Minnesota, 58-55, on the road. They lead the Big Ten in several statistical categories, including scoring defense, FG% defense, 3FG% and turnover margin. They are ranked sixth in the latest CollegeRPI.com rankings and have played the fourth toughest schedule in the nation according to the site.

PU is led by senior All-American Katie Gearlds, who is averaging 16.7 points per game and has knocked down 55 threes on the season. Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton pours in 14.3 points per game and leads the team on the glass, pulling down 8.2 per game. Erin Lawless is also in double figures, averaging 11.2 ppg. The Boilers are coached by Sharon Versyp, who is in her first season at Purdue.

The Illinois-Purdue Series
Purdue leads the all-time series 38-15 and has won 14 of the last 15 and 32 of the last 35 overall. The Boilermakers lead 20-4 in West Lafayette, but Illinois won the last meeting there, 66-56, on Feb. 3, 2005, ending an 18 game losing streak in Mackey Arena for the Orange and Blue. Last season, Purdue won both meetings, taking a close 57-53 battle in Champaign, and then a 68-57 game in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal. Theresa Grentz is just 2-18 all-time against the Boilers, all while at Illinois.

Schedule Toughens down the stretch
Illinois' strength of schedule thus far is ranked 109th in the nation according to CollegeRPI.com, an improvement of 15 spots after Sunday's MSU game. Purdue will be the second game during a seven game stretch during which the Illini will face five ranked foes. Illinois still has to play #13/13 Purdue twice, and #5/6 Ohio State and #arv/23 MSU once each. If that weren't enough, the two games against unranked teams are both on the road, at Iowa (2/15) and at Indiana (2/18).

Paper the Hall
The University of Illinois DIA and the Champaign News-Gazette have joined forces in an effort to "Paper the Hall" for the Feb. 11 women's basketball game between Illinois and nationally-ranked Ohio State at Assembly Hall. Free tickets are still available to all fans for the game, which begins at 2 p.m. As of Feb. 5, over 8,000 ticket had been distributed. Tickets are available for pickup now at the the UI Athletic. Ticket Office, The News-Gazette or WDWS/WHMS Radio.

The first 4,000 fans get orange `Go Illini' poster cards and there will be an autograph session after the game with the team. Additionally, there will be a drawing for several prizes, including an autographed basketball, a Nike basketball jersey and a Valentine's Day package for two. National Girls and Women in Sports Day will also be recognized at the game, with other UI women's athletic teams on hand.

Block Party
With 114 blocks in 22 games (5.18 per game), Illinois is on pace to top the school record of 137 blocks in a season. The Illini tied a school record and set a new Kohl Center record with 11 blocked shots in the 70-62 win over Wisconsin at the Kohl Center on Jan. 14. Jenna Smith led the block party for the Illini with a career-high five swats. The other time the Illini had 11 blocks in a game was back on March 1, 1997 in a 98-76 win over Minnesota in the Big Ten Tournament.  

Bjork Makes Point
• Sophomore Lori Bjork hit a career-high six threes last Thursday against Michigan, equaling the third-highest single game three-point FG total in school history. She then hit five treys on Sunday at MSU to bring her season total to 63, putting her third on the UI single season 3FG made list just 11 behind the record of 74 by Krista Reinking (1995-96). Additionally, her 116 career threes in less than two season already puts her fourth on the UI career 3FG  made list. She is on pace to easily break Reinking's career mark of 194.

• For all games, Bjork leads the conference in threes made per game (2.86) and ranks second in 3FG percentage (.409) and minutes (34.55), while her scoring average of 15.1 is fourth in the conference. In Big Ten games, she leads the league in threes made per game (3.20), ranks fourth in 3FG percentage (.432) and scoring (15.8) and fifth minutes (35.40) and FT percentage (.889).  

• Bjork has made the transition to point guard this season after the Illini lost Maggie Acuna and Janelle Hughes to graduation last spring. She has flourished in the role, leading the team in scoring (15.1), three-point field goals (63) and minutes (34.6), while ranking second in assists (62).

Freshman Phenom
• Freshman of the Year candidate Jenna Smith is tops among all league rookies in rebounds (8.4 rpg) and ranks second in scoring (11.7) during conference games. She's stepped up even more as of late, leading the team in scoring in three of the last five games and leading the team in rebounding in three of the last four.

• Smith's double-double vs. Florida on Dec. 5 (22 p, 10 r) was the first of her career and the 22 points shattered her previous career high of 14. She has had two more double-doubles since, most recently a 17 point, 11 rebound performance vs. Northwestern on Jan. 28. On Jan. 18, against her home-state Minnesota Golden Gophers, she poured in a game-high 18 points.

• For the season, Smith is averaging 10.9 points and 7.6 rebounds per game, which both rank second and first on the team, respectively. Her .503 shooting percentage leads the team and ranks seventh in the Big Ten.

Wigley Nearing 1,000
• Senior Erin Wigley is inching closer to becoming the 20th player in Illinois history to reach the 1,000 point milestone. After scoring eight points vs. Michigan State on Sunday, the Moon Township, Pa., native has 971 career points.