With 14:12 left in the game, following a personal foul and a technical foul on the University of Wisconsin bench, the University of Illinois Fighting Illini opened up a 15-point lead with the score 45–30. It looked as though the Illini were about to run the Badgers right out of the gym to notch another home Big Ten victory.
 

Not so fast.

The Badgers made a big push that fell just short, and the Illini escaped with that win, though it wasn’t as easy or pretty as it looked like it was going to be.

“It doesn’t matter if it was pretty, and it doesn’t matter about the score, we just have to get the W in the end,” Illinois head coach Bruce Weber said. “We found a way to win, and we’re holding serve on our home court.”

The win moves Illinois to 17-3 on the season overall and 5-2 in the Big Ten, giving them more wins already than last season (when they finished with a 16-19 record) and sole possession of second place in the Big Ten.

The Illini were led by an impressive performance from sophomore Demetri McCamey, who put up a game-high 25 points, hitting on 6 of 10 shots from the field and 11 of 13 from the charity stripe.
 

McCamey got to the line by utilizing his quick first step, which he has shown at times this season to get to the hoop, but never as often as he did against the Badgers. In a move completely out of character, McCamey didn’t even attempt his first three until the second half.

“I had [Wisconsin forward Joe] Krabbenhoft on me for most of the first half,” McCamey said. “I felt like I could beat him off the dribble.”

Weber was impressed with the way McCamey handled the adversity of having a bigger, stronger player guarding him.

“Krabbenhoft is one of those guys that we hate to play against,” Weber said. “He’s like a utility guy in baseball, [who] can play any position on the field, and when you talk about who is the best on defense in the Big Ten, I think he is one of them. Demetri got his points, and it wasn’t all from three point range, and that’s something that we have really emphasized with him.”

It’s all part of the major change in McCamey’s game and his burgeoning ability as a leader on the court.

“Demetri is much different from a month ago, you know; he’s trying to listen, and trying in practice, and I think he is just starting to understand what it takes,” Weber said. “His preparation for the games is getting better, and he is really starting to mature. That’s really the key to being a good player, is that he shows up every day and takes what the other team gives him. Today, too, it wasn’t just offense for him, because I thought that he guarded well. He didn’t give Jason Bohannon many good looks.”

Bohannon, another of the Badgers’ leading scorers, was only one of seven from the field, scoring two points.

The Badgers knew they would have a tough time against the Illini’s more athletic big-men, and Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan conceded that that was certainly one of the main turning points in the game.

“Their bigs are really tough to get to the rim on, and they do a nice job of keeping you away from the hoop,” Ryan said.

“Their perimeter defenders are much more mature this year from last year, and they have guys that can handle the tough. If you aren’t playing D, you don’t have a chance to be in games.”

As for the Illini, as the season moves on they seem to be holding true to themselves and not getting big heads as the successes keep on coming.

“Honestly, I hope we aren’t changing with success,” Weber said. “I really hope not, because it is still early. We have another big week coming up this week. I think one change might be we have more confidence, but so far there has been no change in our approach to the games.”

The big week starts early, with a trip to Minneapolis and The Barn to take on a ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers squad. Historically, Illinois has not played well in The Barn and will need another solid effort to keep pace at the top of the conference.

“Minnesota is a valuable game, and we’ve had a pretty tough stretch here, where really all the teams we have played have been ranked at some time during the season,” Weber said. “We just gotta see if we can survive it. Purdue and Michigan State both won at Minnesota, and when they did that, they set a bar. We did the same thing when we won at Purdue; we set a bar. We just have to see if we can meet the challenge that they set.”