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: For the first time in school history, Illinois beat a higher seed in an NCAA tournament game, quieting the trash-talking Bearcats of Cincinnati.

Date: March 21, 2004

Headline: Onward, upward – Illini don't want good times to end

By BRETT DAWSON

COLUMBUS, Ohio – All across the country, college students are gearing up to wind down.

Beach blankets are packed, coolers stocked.

But leisure doesn't suit the Illinois basketball team. It's gearing up for a busy work-week.

"No spring break for us," Illini forward James Augustine said Sunday. "But at least we're going somewhere warmer than we live."

For Illinois, it's Destination: Atlanta, site of this week's NCAA regional games. Fifth-seeded Illinois punched its ticket by hammering fourth-seeded Cincinnati 92-68 on Sunday at Nationwide Arena.

Elsewhere, college kids are downing shots.

In Champaign, they'll be practicing them.

Mighty Kentucky can lounge on the beach. Stellar Stanford is home for the holiday. But after a record-setting Sunday, the Illini have a date with Duke at about 9 p.m. Friday in the Georgia Dome.

"I didn't want a spring break anyway," Illinois guard Deron Williams said.

And he did his best to make sure he didn't get one.

Williams scored 31 points Sunday, breaking Frank Williams' single-game NCAA tournament scoring record by a point, and helped Illinois make another piece of history in knocking off a higher seed for the first time.

And Illinois didn't just advance to a spring break Sweet 16. It cruised there.

Since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985, only one fifth-seeded team has won its first two NCAA tournament games by more collective points than Illinois, which beat Murray State and Cincinnati by a combined 43 points.

In 2001, the Bearcats beat BYU and 13th-seeded Kent State by 48 points in advancing to the Sweet 16 as a No. 5 seed.

"Maybe we were under-seeded," Williams said.

Or maybe, Illinois coach Bruce Weber said, Sunday's game was just a reflection of the way his team has sprung to life after a winter of discontent.

"This is a major accomplishment, especially if you know where we came from: 1-2 in the Big Ten, struggling, hate mail, bad Internet things, everything that you can think of," Weber said. "It's a great accomplishment, but hopefully we're not satisfied."

Illinois looked plenty hungry during the weekend, leaving Murray State and Cincinnati spring broken as they improved to 26-6 and moved into a third Sweet 16 in four seasons. "There were people wondering if we'd peaked too early," said UI center Nick Smith, whose team has won 14 of 15. "To come in here and handle Murray State and Cincinnati the way we did, maybe we're still on the way up."

There certainly was spring in Weber's step as the game ended. His traditional post-victory high- fives stung his players' hands, and his face could have cramped from so much smiling.

And why not grin? The Illini employed Weber's motion offense so spectacularly Sunday, the man could market a video. The Illini led by 24 points late in the first half, and only three straight missed shots before halftime dipped Illinois under 70 percent shooting.

For the game, the Illini made 63.6 percent of their shots against a team that entered the NCAA tournament 10th in the nation in field goal percentage defense.

But the win warmed Weber not so much for its offensive efficiency as for what it represented.

"It means a lot to him," Augustine said. "He's brought us through so much. We've gone through the ups and downs, and he's stuck with us, so he deserves it."

There was a time when Weber thought his team might be in Cancun this spring break. Or Daytona. Or any number of hot spots that aren't hosting NCAA regionals.

When Illinois sputtered in January, Weber wondered (at times aloud) if he'd ever get his team's head out of the sand.

He feared a sour season. He couldn't have dreamed of the Sweet 16.

"I wasn't the only one doubting," Weber said. "In January, who could have seen this coming?"

But Illinois won its final 10 regular season games and reeled off 12 straight wins before a loss to Wisconsin in the Big Ten tournament championship game. The result? Illinois' first outright regular season Big Ten title in 52 years.

Coupled with Illinois' first win against a higher-seeded team at the NCAA tournament, it makes this particular pack of Illini a team of history majors.

And even as spring break begins, they're ready for more exams.

"We've been doing all these record-breaking things all this time," Illinois guard Luther Head said. "Why stop? We want to keep it going."