Each day in March, we'll look back at a memorable Illini performance in the NCAA tournament, thanks to writers from the News-Gazette and Jim Turpin's audio.

Today:  Bruce Weber's Illini defeated Air Force in as wacky a series of circumstances as you'll ever see.

Date: March 16, 2006

Headline:  It's business unusual — This one was weird, wacky and a win

SAN DIEGO — A surreal week evolved into a surreal basketball game.

A surprising seed sent Illinois 2,000 miles from home. Then came the delayed charter flight ... the broken bus near the San Diego airport ... the fouled practice schedule ... and the Thursday morning overreaction by two bomb-sniffing dogs to a standard hot dog cart.

All those were unexpected. They caught the Illini by surprise.

But the weirdest development was planned. Evidently pushed by numbskulls at CBS-TV - surely, NCAA execs knew better - a mere 25 minutes were allowed to empty 12,000-seat Cox Arena after UCLA's defeat of Belmont, and refill for the Illini-Air Force game.

How odd it was to compare an empty arena Thursday night to a year ago when Illinois drew thousands for practice, not to mention its playoff games. Two minutes prior to the lineups being announced, a thin line of carefully inspected fans began to trickle back in. At the first four-minute timeout, there were perhaps 2,000 fans in their seats, and the building was roughly half full with 9 1/2 minutes gone.

"It reminded me of our AAU days," UI senior James Augustine said, "when we played games in the morning with no one there. When you're playing, you don't look much at the crowd anyway. The (security enforced) delay in the starting time didn't bother us. We just thought it was spoiled mustard. That's what we thought."

Then there was the game itself. In no way did it progress in a fashion that anyone expected.

Two of the nation's top 10 defensive clubs, which allowed a combined 112 points a game, produced 147. The Illini enjoyed their highest field goal percentage, .580, as Bruce Weber's big men, including Brian Randle, sank 19 of 26 shots. The Big Ten's worst free throw shooters drained an efficient 12 of 14. And the UI outscored Air Force reserves 32-5, as Warren Carter sparked the first-half attack and Jamar Smith closed fast with six treys, more than the Peoria freshman had produced in the last seven games.

A furious offensive skirmish broke out where a slowdown defensive duel was expected.

Smith was so hot that on several occasions he waved for the ball in open-court situations, and Dee Brown had a cross-court eye out for him.

"On Smith's shot by the bench, he was right in front of me, and I was calling for patience," Weber said, "but he just shot it in and smiled back at me."

The 78-69 result left losing coach Jeff Bzdelik upset with "terrible defensive closeouts (out of a leaky zone) and too much missed communication." But he also opined that Illinois was the best team Air Force faced this season. Illinois led 78-62 going into the final minute.

Carter and Smith were critical to the victory because Randle and Augustine, while strikingly effective during their time on the court, joined Rich McBride on the bench with two fouls during the last five minutes of the first half, and neither played 30 minutes. Yet Randle and Augustine combined for 25 points and drew the attention of the Air Force interior defense, thereby creating openings for Smith on the perimeter.

The 6-foot Brown garnered eight rebounds himself, more than any Falcon, and came close to a triple-double with 10 assists and eight points. Unable to connect early, Brown didn't attempt a field goal after going 1 for 7 in the first half. He seldom has played a better floor game, a fact that both coaches recognized.

That's the kind of week it was, the Illini careening from one unexpected development to another to produce arguably their most efficient offensive performance of the 26-6 season.

There was Randle, sitting out 13 consecutive minutes, and then exploding for 15 second-half points. There was Carter, breaking out with 5-for-6 shooting in the first half and helping the subs hold the fort before the break. There was Smith, nailing a clutch trey after Air Force used three consecutive steals to cut the UI lead to 39-38 with 16 minutes left.

It was anybody's game to that point, and it was still a nervous 50-47 when Carter connected in the lane, Augustine popped an 8-footer, Smith drained a trey, Brown converted three free throws and Randle tallied a putback for the UI's second 12-0 run that ended all doubt.

What we learned is that (1) athletes are resilient and often unaffected by events swirling around them and (2) always expect the unexpected.

Some good teams bit the dust Thursday and more will today.

"We're alive to play another day," Weber said.

And that's all that matters.

Other March Memories:

Illini stun Arizona to reach 2005 FInal Four - Link

Call goes to Kentucky in 1984 regional final - Link