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Illinois rolls to 60-50 victory over Michigan

Strong second half key to triumph in Big Ten tournament

By Terry Bannon | Tribune reporter
9:27 PM CDT, March 13, 2009

INDIANAPOLIS - Chester Frazier knew he wouldn't be able to help Illinois on the court Friday. So the injured guard, who aspires to a career in coaching, tried to act like one.

"Before the game Chester came to my room. He told me to play hard and everything will take care of itself," forward Mike Davis said. "He told me to play hard defense, don't worry about missing shots. I played a good game and my teammates came through."

Davis recorded his ninth double-double of the season with 22 points and 10 rebounds to lead Illinois past Michigan 60-50 in the Big Ten quarterfinals at Conseco Fieldhouse. The second-seeded Illini (24-8) will meet No. 3 Purdue or No. 6 Penn State in Saturday's semifinal game.

Frazier watched from the sidelines with his right hand and wrist wrapped. He was injured in practice Wednesday and had surgery Thursday in hopes of returning for the NCAA tournament. Coach Bruce Weber wouldn't answer when asked if the hand is broken.

But the Illini (24-8) did answer one question Friday—whether they can overcome their first serious injury of the season. Illinois and Michigan (20-13) had split the regular-season meetings, both winning at home.

"Michigan is a good team, beat Duke and UCLA, some pretty good folks," Weber said. "If we can do it on neutral court without someone many think is our MVP, our heart of our team, it shows a lot for our kids."

Leading 25-24 at halftime, they made 10 of their first 13 shots in the second half and built a lead that peaked at 54-34 on a Davis jumper with 7 minutes, 18 seconds left.

Then the Wolverines woke up, going on a 13-0 run to cut the Illinois lead to 54-47 on a jumper by DeShawn Sims.

With the overwhelming pro-Illinois crowd getting nervous, Davis went back to work. His jump shot with 3:01 left made it 56-47.

Davis made 11 of 19 shots.

"Coach told me to post up because there would be a little guard (6-foot-5-inch Zack Novak) on me," Davis said. "My shot was falling, I kept shooting and shots fell."

The Illini controlled the clock the rest of the way, with Demetri McCamey and Calvin Brock each making two free throws.

Brock's biggest contribution was on defense. In Frazier's absence, he took the lead role in defending Michigan guard Manny Harris, averaging 17.1 points per game. With help from Trent Meacham and others, Harris was held to nine points on 3 of 11 shooting. Sims scored 15 points, but made only 6 of 19 as Michigan shot only 33.3 percent (19 of 57).

Meacham scored 12 points and McCamey had 12, 10 in the first half, as Illinois ended its first losing streak of the season at two games.

"It was a great confidence boost," Brock said. "We came out with a chip on our shoulder … those two losses kind made us want to get a win tonight."

tabannon@tribune.com

Related topic galleries: Mike Davis, National Collegiate Athletic Association, Basketball, Conseco Incorporated

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