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: Austin Peay delivered an NCAA tournament punch to the gut, stunning Illinois in an upset that made Dick Vitale stand on his head

Headline: Illini reverted to worst form in season finale

Date: March 12, 1987

By LOREN TATE

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Like a string of firecrackers, there were game-long signals of the fate that would befall Illinois on Thursday night.

It took, we must all agree, a perfect set of circumstances on both sides for Austin Peay to defeat Illinois. And that's what happened.

Jens Kujawa, who played up-tight most of the season, missed two cold layups at the outset, and when Lowell Hamilton replaced him, Lowell jammed a slam dunk hard off the rim, as did Steve Bardo later. The Illini made but 10 of their first 30 shots, missing some incredibly easy ones.

Bardo, bringing back memories of Bruce Douglas' worst-ever game against Georgia Tech in Providence two years ago, became tragically prone to turnovers and charges, the shaky UI ball handling leaving Ken Norman and Hamilton empty-handed when they appeared dominate in the lane.

Doug Altenberger, who went 0 for 4 on three-pointers in the Big Ten finale at Michigan State, couldn't buy a long shot (0 for 5 from the arc), and a team that shot nearly 50 percent for the season, missed all seven tries.

Meanwhile, Austin Peay was aided in rallying from a 22-15 deficit by a brief stretch of backwards officiating shortly before halftime, tying it 32-32 on Lawrence Mitchell's long three-point bank with no time on the clock.

Austin Peay would drill six such shots, outscoring Illinois 18-0 from the arc. Earlier here, New Orleans whipped BYU 83-79 by outscoring Cougars 24-3 from the arc, and Alabama defeated North Carolina A&T 88-71 with a 27-6 point margin on three-pointers.

THE PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPACT of the shot was devastating all day and night, carrying right on through Providence's rout of UAB.

"I'm sure Bedford's three-pointers upset Lou Henson because he jerked some guys out of there," said Austin Peay coach Lake Kelly. "It has a demoralizing effect on the other team."

Huge Darryl Bedford garnered five of them and made two other second-half baskets that must have been hatched on Mars, a jump-hook from the free throw line at 54-50 and an underhanded spin-flip that rolled around and fell in at 64-61.

And down the stretch, when every point was critical, the trio of Norman, Altenberger and Glynn Blackwell missed one-and-one free throw opportunities, the Illini going 1 for 5 at the line until Tony Wysinger converted two at 2:35.

All that, and Illinois still had a chance to win when Wysinger popped a 14-footer with 13 seconds left for a 67-66 UI lead. But Richie Armstrong, trapped in the corner by Wysinger and Altenberger, saw non-shooter Tony Raye slip free from Hamilton under the basket and fired him the ball. Fouled by a desperate Norman, Raye made two free throws at 0:02.

Over? No. Illini strategy worked to near-perfection in those two remaining ticks. First, Bardo made a leaping midcourt catch of the inbounds pass and, aided by prearrangement with the officials, got timeout at 0:01. Then Bardo tossed it in to Norman who missed a turnaround 16-footer as the game ended.

After falling to the court and remaining there for a considerable time, Norman faced the reporters and said:

"I HAD A CHANCE to be a hero. It was a good shot, but some go in and some don't. I have to share the blame. But you win or lose over 40 minutes, not in the last second."

Actually, Norman played extremely well, garnering 17 points and 12 rebounds and doing a solid job on Bedford after replacing Kujawa on him. But Norman and Wysinger were the only regulars who were sharp, and Hamilton provided the only real help off the bench.

For Lou Henson, it was a case of his team again "playing tight" in an emotional setting and failing in the closing seconds, as they did so often in a 23-8 season.

"Wouldn't you know it would end this way?" Henson fumed. "Our young players reverted to form and we didn't shoot it the way we can, either from the field or the free throw line."

The day before the game, in an aside with reporters, Henson had drawn a 6-18-6 on a pad and noted:

"Normally, and this is true year after year, a team will play six excellent games, six bad games and 18 somewhere in between. As we look back on out 30 games, we haven't played hardly any bad ones. Colorado nearly got us at home, but when I looked back at the tape, it was a case of Colorado playing well, not us playing poorly.

"This team has surprised me all season long. They amaze me. There must be something there that I don't see because I really don't know how they're doing it. We have some very definite weaknesses."

After the game, Henson referred to those weaknesses as "voids" then changed the word to "inconsistencies."

"We started with three seniors and a bunch of young ones, and we finished with three seniors and the others still playing like young ones. We made too many turnovers (14) and we didn't put the ball where it was supposed to go tonight," he said.

"But I'm not going to let this loss taint the season. We won 23 games and we lost a lot of close ones because we weren't quite good enough. All we can do is keep building and try to get good enough."

Other March Memories:

Bill Self's finale game a 2003 loss - Link

Illini look good vs. Louisville in 1989 - Link

Illini end Sweet 16 drought with '01 win in Dayton - Link

Illini quiet Cincinnati in '04, finally beat a higher seed - Link

Empty seats, big win in 2006 tourney opener - Link

Illini stun Arizona to reach 2005 FInal Four - Link

Call goes to Kentucky in 1984 regional final - Link