For Ed Bond's day in pictures, click here
For the box score, click here
CHAMPAIGN - This time last year, Chester Frazier was the target of boos on his own homecourt.
On Sunday at the Assembly Hall, the Orange Krush serenaded the senior by chanting his name. Frazier led No. 23 Illinois to a 66-48 win against No. 12 Purdue, giving the Illini a regular season sweep of the Boilermakers.
Frazier's three-pointer from the right wing, just as the shot clock was winding down, sent a near-capacity crowd into a tizzy and handed Illinois (19-5, 7-4 Big Ten) a 62-43 lead. He finished with 10 points, five assists and three rebounds.
He also helped limit Purdue's leading scorer, E'Twaun Moore, to six points, eight below his average. Purdue (17-6, 6-4) was playing without Robbie Hummel, who sat out with a back injury, and the Boilers were going to need a big game from Moore. The Illini didn't allow it. Moore had averaged 21 points in three previous meetings with Illinois.
Illinois' defense smothered the Boilers, forcing the visitors into 32-percent shooting. That's their lowest mark of the season.
Mike Davis had 14 points and a career-high 16 rebounds for Illinois. JaJuan Johnson led all scorers with 17 points, to complement 11 rebounds.
7:50 Left in Regulation - Illinois 53, Purdue 41
Josh M. checks in via email: "Paul, tell us again why people booed Chester last year? I just do not get it, that kid is all hustle and all heart."
It's inexplicable, Josh. The only explanation: you have some bad fans. I had one Big Ten assistant tell me he will "always" have a kid from Baltimore on his roster, after seeing the way Chester Frazier competes.
- This has been a pleasure to watch JaJuan Johnson and Mike Davis go at each other. Both big men -- lankies, as Tate would call them -- have double-doubles. And they're both sophomores, so these battles are going to be around for a while.
Until JJ Johnson leaves for the NBA after his junior season, at least. Marcus Jackson reports Mike Davis has tied a career-high with 14 rebounds.
- You know about the Keady coaching ties. But the Boilers and Illini also have something else in common: they're wearing Nike Hyperdunks. Dominique Keller said after practice the other day that he likes the Illini's new kicks. This is the second game Illinois has worn the Hyperdunks.
- You can see the confidence level Illinois enjoys at home. It's the opposite of what you see from them on the road. And the Illini are well on their way to remaining the only Big Ten team without a home loss in conference play.
Check back in a few.
Klee
12:00 Left in Regulation - Illinois 43, Purdue 37
- This is an entirely different Purdue team without Robbie Hummel. And the Big Ten's preseason Player of the Year is seriously bummed out over on the visitors bench.
- Marcus Jackson caught up with former Illini Don Freeman, a guest of honor today. "I can't believe they hung my jersey from the ceiling," Freeman said.
- Chris Nichols checks in via email: "I though Weber's calling card was defense! This is his team and we get pushed around like no other and don't rebound. What gives?"
Chris, you must be watching the wrong game. Illinois held Purdue to 35.3-percent shooting in the first half. The Boilers average 45.7-percent shooting. Illinois has plenty of deficiencies, but that's not one of them.
- No Alex Legion yet today. I can assure you he's here, sitting next to Richard Semrau on the Illinois bench.
- Lewis Jackson is doing a number on Illinois right now. The freshman has 12 points, five rebounds and two assists.
- Peter Goff, who coaches UI recruit Joseph Bertrand at Sterling, is over behind the Illinois bench.
Here's what Woody Goff said about Bertrand's senior season: "He's really become a better defensive player, and he's being alot more aggressive on the offensive end. He's got three or four tip-dunks lately."
Bertrand is averaging about 14 points for the Golden Warriors (14-8).
"He does so many more little things that help his team win," Goff said. "He doesn't care about his personal stats."
- Illinois recruiting target and St. Louis-area standout Bradley Beal is also in attendance. He's one of the many 2011 prospects the Illini are tracking closely.
Check back in a few.
Klee
Halftime - Illinois 32, Purdue 28
- Mike Davis is a rebounding machine. He had nine rebounds with 3 minutes left in the first half. He has 18 rebounds in the last two halves of play (he had nine in the second half against Wisconsin) and 30 boards in his last two plus games. This is the third straight game Mike Davis will grab at least 10 rebounds, the first time in his career he's done that.
The battle in the paint between sophomores JaJuan Johnson and Mike Davis has been entertaining (except for Davis' missed dunk) to watch. Johnson has Davis in the scoring column (12 to 4), though Davis has Johnson in the rebounding department (9 to 8). Those two could be the best forwards in the league (if you consider Johnson a forward) as soon as next season.
- Frankly, I don't see JaJuan Johnson at Purdue as a senior.
- Marcus Jackson reports UI baseball coach Dan Hartleb is sitting in the front row across from the Purdue bench.
- Illinois missed on Lewis Jackson. We've said it for a while, and there's no other way to put it.
- Caught up with Jeremy Moore, who coached Jackson at Decatur Eisenhower. Coach Moore made the trip over and said the community has a "sense of pride" watching its basketball product play well in the Big Ten.
"He's done exactly what I thought he would (as a freshman at Purdue)," Moore said. "I think over the next three years you'll see his role on the team really expand, because that's what he did for us. He'll grow as a player. He went from averaging double figures to averaging 20 points a game last year (as an Eisenhower senior)."
- Crandall Head, Tracy Abrams and Meyers Leonard went into the UI locker room at halftime. That has to be a thrill for those guys. Of course, it's old hat for the veteran, Crandall.
And Crandall said he "loves the idea" of playing alongside Tracy Abrams at Illinois.
"We were talking about that," Crandall said.
Really, four-fifths of your starting lineup in 2012-13 could be in attendance tonight. Tracy Abrams at the point, Crandall Head on the wing, Tyler Griffey at the 4 and Meyers Leonard at the 5.
Check back in a few.
Klee
6:20 Left in the First Half - Illinois 25, Purdue 19
- Just got word from Joe Smith, who operates Brian Cook's summer basketball camps in C-U. He said the former Illini will host his camp Aug. 3-6 in Champaign. Cost is $125 and you can register here.
Bruce P. checks in via email: "Good morning Paul. Let's hope 'The Hall" wakes up our shooters confidence again. They sure could use a boost of confidence in the next few weeks!"
- Westchester St. Joseph's junior DeAndre McCamey is in the bleachers over by the Illinois bench. He's a regular.
- Marcus Jackson reports Trent Meacham was doing too much roaming on the perimeter early in the game, but the senior penetrated past Chris Kramer and kicked out to Mike Tisdale for a jumper. That's something Trent has said he needs to do more often - penetrate-and-kick - to Tisdale and Davis.
- Kramer just checked out of the game in obvious pain. We'll see if it affects his playing time.
- E'Twaun Moore, who is averaging 21 points in three games against Illinois, got his first field goal, a floater in the lane, with 9:15 left in the first half. So far, the Illini have done a good job on Purdue's best player. And E'Twaun Moore just picked up his second foul.
Check back in a few.
Klee
11:20 Left in the First Half - Illinois 19, Purdue 15
- Purdue guard Chris Kramer is going with the Rip Hamilton face mask. Matt Painter said it's not Kramer's nose he's worried about, it's Kramer's foot, which has given him problems.
"I broke my nose four or five times and had surgery," Painter said.
- The officials are letting them play a physical game. Not a lot of soft fouls being called. In theory that would work to Purdue's advantage.
- Quick start for Dominique Keller, who is turning into one of the more important recruits of recent seasons. The juco transfer took his man off the dribble for a dunk and scored one of those goofy-looking but effective floater things. He's got four points and gives Illinois a capable backup in the frontcourt.
- And Trent Meacham has relocated his shot, at least in the early going. The senior hit his first two three-pointers of the game, giving him at least two 3's in consecutive games for the first time since Dec. 28.
- This is the loudest crowd we've heard at the Hall this season. Which leads us to an email from Kyle S., a finance major at the UI: "Paul, is the lame Paint Crew there? If so, where are they sitting? I really hope the DIA did not let them have a block of seats."
Kyle, the Paint Crew is in the house, up in C-section, where they're letting loose with the "Let's go Boilers!" chant. The Krush had a response though: "Why so quiet?"
- Illinois recruits Crandall Head and Tracy Abrams just arrived. It's the first Illinois game for Tracy Abrams, the newest addition to their recruiting haul. It's the 1,568th game for Luther's brother.
Maybe you saw Tracy Abrams on Comcast the other night? The no-look pass, followed by a step-back jumper, was promising for Illinois fans.
Check back in a few.
Klee
Tipoff - No. 12 Purdue (17-5, 6-3 Big Ten) at No. 23 Illinois (18-5, 6-4)
- Don Freeman and Eddie Johnson just left the court after raising their No. 33 (Johnson) and No. 15 (Freeman) jerseys honored.
- The Paint Crew - Purdue's student section - has invaded the Assembly Hall as expected. The Crew is returning the favor from the Orange Krush's invasion of Mackey Arena last season. Purdue's students are way up in C-42 through C-44. During warmpus, the courtside-sitting Krush chanted, "We can't hear you!"
- Illinois recruits Tyler Griffey and Meyers Leonard are in the bleachers near the Illini bench. Joseph Bertrand's coach at Sterling, Peter Goff, is also here. He said the Warriors have a tough week coming up.
- Starting lineup for Illinois: Mike Tisdale, Mike Davis, Demetri McCamey, Chester Frazier and Trent Meacham. Marcus Jackson reports assistant Wayne McClain came out to the starters' huddle and gave them a shouting to, getting them fired up. Illinois can't afford to start slowly, not with the way the offense has struggled of late.
- For Purdue: Keaton Grant, Lewis Jackson (there was no outstanding crowd reaction for the Decatur Eisenhower product), E'Twaun Moore, Chris Kramer and JaJuan Johnson.
Check back in a few.
Klee
15 Minutes Until Tipoff - No. 12 Purdue at No. 23 Illinois
The Assembly Hall is SIUC-U today, or Saluki North. Former Saluki coaches in attendance: Bruce Weber, Matt Painter, Jack Owens, Paul Lusk. Just spoke with former SIU assistant Shane Hawkins, who's here, too.
Been a good weekend for the Keady coaching tree. Weber and Painter clash for the seventh time as head coaches today. Former Weber/Keady aides Chris Lowery (SIU) and Cuonzo Martin (Missouri State) played yesterday in Springfield, Mo.
- We wrote about the Gene Keady coaching tree today: Click here.
"I just don't see dramatic differences (in the coaches). That's probably a credit to the tree," said Mike Reis, the radio voice of the Salukis for 30 seasons, who has covered three of the coaches at SIU (Weber, Painter, Lowery).
"I think they're all high-character people. I think they all prefer to have high-character people in their program. They all abhor cheating. They all abhor the quick route. That's why it always go the juco (junior college) route as the last resort. I just don't see dramatic differences."
- The most interesting part of that story was how football and golf were factors in Bruce Weber being hired at Illinois. (Mike Reis pointed that out.) Gene Keady (K-State and the Steelers) and SIU athletics director Jim Hart (St. Louis Cardinals) were tied by football backgrounds, and they were having dinner at Pebble Beach when Keady plugged Weber's name with Hart.
- You'll remember that Bruce Weber applied for countless jobs before being hired at SIU. One of the pieces of advice that Keady gave him: if a program has won in the past, it can win again. Though SIU had fallen on hard times, it had won before, so they figured it could win again.
- With the way the Keady tree is branching out - Cuonzo Martin is the newest branch, over at Missouri State - you'll see more and games between Keady disciples.
*** A look at the Gene Keady coaching tree ***
Gene Keady, patriarch, advanced to 19 NCAA tournaments in 27 seasons at Western Kentucky and Purdue, named Big Ten Coach of the Year seven times, serves as Big Ten Network analyst and faithfully watches Desperate Housewives.
Bruce Weber, Illinois, has advanced to six NCAA tournaments in 11 seasons at SIU and Illinois, guided Illini to back-to-back Big Ten titles (2004, 2005) and NCAA runner-up finish (2005), takes his two dogs to obedience school and is a veteran scuba diver.
Kevin Stallings, Vanderbilt, has 308 wins in 16 seasons at Illinois State and Vanderbilt, has taken the Commodores to five straight NCAA tournaments, Collinsville native used to play competitive tennis matches against Weber.
Matt Painter, Purdue, is two shy of 100 career wins in five seasons at SIU and Purdue, named 2008 Big Ten Coach of the Year and rebuilt Boilers with savvy recruiting, attended Illini basketball camps as a youth and is an encyclopedia when it comes to basketball facts.
Chris Lowery, Southern Illinois, has guided SIU to two NCAA tournaments as a point guard (1993, 1994), two as an assistant (2002, 2003), and three as coach (2005, 2006, 2007), reveled in Super Bowl triumph as longtime Steelers fan and wife Erika makes delicious nachos.
Cuonzo Martin, Missouri State, is in first season as Missouri State's coach, continued coaching-tree tradition by hiring former SIU star Kent Williams as an assistant, overachieving with limited talent on Missouri State roster, drafted by Hawks in 1995.
- Robbie Hummel isn't in Purdue's layup lines. Klee wondered if Purdue might hold him out for the first half and possibly play him in the second. Doesn't look like that's the case.
- It's Trent Meacham poster day at the Hall today.
- Klee's prediction (made under the assumption Rob Hummel would play): Click here.
- Jim Rossow's prediction: Click here.
Check back in a few.
Klee
30 Minutes Until Tipoff - No. 12 Purdue (17-5, 6-3 Big Ten) at No. 23 Illinois (18-5, 6-4)
- Lot of NBA guys in the building today. Greg Anthony is over on the Illini bench, rapping with Sean Harrington. The former Runnin' Rebel is calling the game for CBS. Anthony said he's probably doing next Sunday's CBS game at Indiana, too. (And it sounds like Gus Johnson will be on that ticket as well).
That's good news for Illini fans watching on the tube. Any color commentator that takes time to chat with the director of basketball operations - to get the scoop - is a guy that does his homework.
- Eddie Johnson is here, chatting with Ron Guenther over near the tunnel. He'll have his jersey honored prior to tipoff. Why is Eddie Johnson one of our favorites? He agreed to a text messaging interview with Klee.
- P.J. Carlesimo, the former Blazers/Thunder/Seton Hall/etc. coach, is also in the house. He's calling the game on Westwood One.
- Expecting to see a number of recruits in attendance as well. I'll keep you updated as they roll in, if they roll in. With recruits' attendance, you never know until they're sitting in the bleachers.
Check back in a few.
Klee
75 Minutes Until Tipoff - No. 12 Purdue (17-5, 6-3 Big Ten) at No. 23 Illinois (18-5, 6-4)
Good morning, Paul Klee joining you from the Assembly Hall. We'll get started early today because we're fired up for this one. Here's a rundown of what's to be known about today's matchup:
- The question is whether Robbie Hummel (back) will play. The Boilers are saying no. The Big Ten's preseason Player of the Year will be sidelined for today's game, Matt Painter told Loren Tate in a pregame interview a few minutes ago. It's unfortunate. Great kid, good player, lots of family here in Champaign. Hopefully he's able to return to the Purdue lineup as the season moves forward.
I can tell you Hummel's absence changes Illinois' approach. In practice Friday, the Illini went through their scouting report with one guy playing the role of Hummel on one wing. The Illinois staff was all over its guys to "get out on him" when he's roaming the program. And they did, as Bruce Weber said, prepare as though Hummel would play. Now, it frees up Chester Frazier to defend E'Twaun Moore, the Boilers' best player and an Illini killer.
The Purdue roster just took the court to shoot jumpers. Mike Davis was the first Illini on the court, followed quickly by Trent Meacham and Mike Tisdale.
Send your questions and comments, we'll get them posted. Check back in a few.
Klee (pklee@news-gazette.com)
National TV audience, recruits in the house, opposing team's possible best player out, looking to get out of a funk against a ranked team and rival...if we don't pull one out today, I'm afraid we are headed to the bubble. We should be able to get up for this game, big time!!
Posted by on February 8, 2009 at 11:27 AM | Suggest Removal
The big question isn't Hummel ... it's how well BW will manage the turnaround with our own team. The key issues are well documented over the past 3 weeks. He lots of great talent to work with.
Posted by on February 8, 2009 at 11:29 AM | Suggest Removal
Yeah, I agree too. I've always defended Weber, but the rest of this year will speak volumes about his coaching. When I hear him say things like "I don't know what to do, I've tried everything" it makes me wonder. We really need this today!!
Posted by on February 8, 2009 at 11:35 AM | Suggest Removal
Mr. Klee....... Do you think a loss today makes us more of a bubble team? Looking at the schedule I'm a little worried about going to NW and Indy now. Am I paranoid or will our shooting come back?
Posted by on February 8, 2009 at 11:37 AM | Suggest Removal
Nobody doing any pregame commenting, so I'll give my best effort to be a reporter and give my take on the game.
With Hummell out, Illinois needs to take out Johnson in the post. If he has a career game against our weak interior defense, not having Hummell won't matter. Frazier should handle Moore and limit his shot numbers. Illinois also needs to hit the boards and quit running back down the floor when a shot goes up. Second chance points will be crutial. And lastly, the Illini home crowd better be into it. If it's quiet in the "House of Paign" then it may be a long day.
Posted by on February 8, 2009 at 11:55 AM | Suggest Removal
Same things different day. No rebounding, getting pushed around, allowing dribble penetration and turning the ball over!! All signs point to a bad second half.
Posted by on February 8, 2009 at 12:53 PM | Suggest Removal
A nice win to be sure..it was nice to see Mike Davis start to play well....I have no clue why we have a 7' post player shooting 15 ft shots...why is he always on the perimiter...and then many games Chester leads us in rebounding !!???....also,will anyone be surprised when Alex Legion transfers...Weber brings him in with 4 minutes left during clean up time !???This guy has 2 yrs left and is being treated like an afterthought..I may be missing something but is Meacham an All American,or some other reason Legion sits most of the time?? Or did Weber forget he basically won the first Purdue game for us and single handedly kept us in the Michigan State game...sure he had a bad game in Madison...the entire team was atrocious on the road (AGAIN)....at this point Weber has destroyed the young man's confidence,while favoring a player who is mediocre,at best,and will be gone next year.
Posted by weisenbarth on February 9, 2009 at 8:59 AM | Suggest Removal
Legion has great potential but his play on the floor has been awful.
Posted by on February 9, 2009 at 10:43 AM | Suggest Removal
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