What a ball game!

Northwestern set all kinds of Assembly Hall records (16 3-pointers made.....47 3-point attempts....only 3 turnovers)......but the Illini finally finished off the Wildcats in overtime on Wednesday night in a classic Big Ten battle.

The biggest factor of all in the game though came from the biggest man on the floor...7-1 Mike Tisdale...who poured in a career-high 31 points against Northwestern.. 

Tisdale is a really nice and polite young man who is pretty low-key both on and off the court.  He likes to hunt and fish near his hometown of Riverton (near Springfield).  He has developed a nice baby hook that is almost impossible to stop. 

But  a few weeks ago Coach Weber challenged the big man to have more of an impact on this year's Illini team.  To be more active in the lane.  To crash the boards for rebounds.  And to be more of a vocal leader on and off the court.  Weber warned him that if he didnt start making his presence felt soon...his college career was going to be over before he knew it..  He would only be remembered as a really tall Central Illinois kid who played a little basketball at Illinois.  But not much else.

Tisdale is a good student of the game...and he took Weber's advice to heart.  In the last  3 games he has scored 54 points and grabbed 26 rebounds and compiled 2 straight double-doubles.  During the heat of the Clemson comeback....Tisdale was more vocal than at any point in his career.  He showed that same emotion and fire during the 2nd half comeback for the Illini against Northwestern.

Tisdale is a great outside shooter...and there are times he can help the Illini out away from the basket.  But if the Illini feed him the ball on the post consistently enough....Tisdale has shown in recent games how dominant he can be.

Lets hope it continues into the 2010 portion of the calendar.....continuing on Saturday against Gonzaga at the United Center.