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: Bill Self's first Illini team, a No. 1 seed, fell one game short of the Final Four when Arizona and a bunch of fouls did them in.

Date: March 25, 2001

Headline: Painful loss hard for Illini to digest

SAN ANTONIO — The players have a choice.

And, by the looks on their mugs Sunday evening, it's doubtful they'll watch a second of the Final Four on TV.

But Bill Self can't avoid it. As all coaches do, he'll make the trip to Minneapolis, where he'll pull for the Big Ten and probably pull his hair out in frustration.

Just like last March.

"That's when it hit me," Self said. "You only get so many opportunities in life to really hit a home run. Certainly we'll be back in this situation again I believe that but the home run to me was winning this game.

"It wasn't winning the Sweet 16 game. It was winning this game."

Top-seeded Illinois struck out Sunday. With the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth.

The Big Ten co-champions lost 87-81 to Lute Olson's motivated Arizona squad, in the process losing a chance to match the Flyin' Illini's feat of 1989.

For Self, it marked a second consecutive Elite Eight defeat. For the players, it marked the end of a five-month marathon that featured 27 wins, a league title and another NCAA tournament lesson.

This one hurt every bit as bad as last March's against Florida.

"If next year we come up short again, I'm going to be real sick," junior Damir Krupalija said. "We have a lot of people coming back. Right now, everybody's sad. But deep down, we're excited about our opportunities next year."

While Arizona donned caps and T-shirts and danced at midcourt, the Illini shuffled off to their locker room, where they shared tears and memories. Self's first team accomplished much but didn't entirely clean its plate, joining Stanford as No. 1 seeds unable to reach the Twin Cities.

Arizona will play Michigan State, and Duke will play Maryland on Saturday. The Nielsen folks might want to skip Champaign-Urbana.

"I'm not watching," Marcus Griffin said. "That was supposed to be us."

Arizona didn't get the message.

"I don't know if I'm going to watch it or not," Robert Archibald said. "It depends on what kind of mood I'm in."

He was feeling rotten on Sunday's flight home despite a career game (25 points, seven rebounds). A combination of the outcome the UI thought it had a good read on Arizona and consequences four seniors played their final game left the Illini with red eyes and running noses.

"Unless you cut down the nets in the final game," Self said, "you're going to feel like everyone in this locker room feels."

Glum and mum.

"You got Cory (Bradford) coming to you, saying he's sorry. Guys just crying. You see that they're really crying for you," senior Sergio McClain said. "They're sorry for not getting that hardware. We all came in here with the same intentions and goals. We just fell short."

Short on defense, the Wildcats using a 53-point second half to reach their fourth Final Four since 1988. Short on players, a school- record six Illini fouling out during a maddening second half that included 42 Arizona free throw attempts. Short on stars, every starter but Bradford taking it on the chin.

"The worst part is I played like doo-doo," Frank Williams said. "That's not a good feeling."

It marked Williams' last game with high school teammates McClain and Griffin. It won't be his last as an Illini, he said, despite heavy interest from the NBA.

"I don't want to leave with just the Elite Eight," Williams said. "I want to go out better. I don't want to settle for this. There's more to be accomplished.

"I'm definitely coming back."

Williams, who scored a career-high 30 points in Friday's win against Kansas, was held to nine on 3-of-15 shooting. The starting frontcourt combined for seven points, 3-of-14 shooting and 15 fouls. Brian Cook, McClain, Griffin, Archibald, Lucas Johnson and Krupalija fouled out, leaving News-Gazette All-Area players Nate Mast and Brett Melton to finish the UI's most important game in eons.

"We had some guys who didn't play individually like they're capable of playing," Self said. "When you don't win in the NCAA tournament, it's because screwy things happened. This game was kind of out of whack from the beginning."

The end was just as weird, Illinois rallying like it did in its loss to Arizona in Maui. But Arizona combated a flurry of three- pointers Bradford tied his season high with six with deadly accuracy at the free throw line, its 56 attempts and 43 makes setting Illinois opponent records.

"We work on free throws in practice all the time," Arizona center Loren Woods said. "Many times, the game comes down to free throws in the last few minutes."

Woods was 12 of 13 from the line and had seven blocks. Gilbert Arenas had 21 points, 18 in the first half. Richard Jefferson had Williams' number. Jason Gardner had what Self called the game's biggest shot, a three-pointer from Austin. And Arizona had an answer to the critics who questioned its ability to bang with the Big Ten.

"Our goal was just to hang tough until good things happened," Arizona coach Lute Olson said.

Self's goal is to get Illinois to the next level. Ranked fourth and seeded first, the Illini had an opening this weekend. But 41.4 percent shooting and 25 points from the starting frontcourt against Kansas and Arizona was too large a roadblock for a program that has hit a number of NCAA tournament potholes.

"I didn't think we had the intangibles to get to this point," Self said. "I thought there was potential, but I didn't know if the intangibles existed from a leadership standpoint, from toughness and buying in and trusting each other.

"Certainly they made my job a lot easier because they bought in and did the things you have to do to win at a high level."

Self and his assistants will head to the Final Four later this week. The underclassmen will take some time off before beginning conditioning for next season. And the seniors will pack up their belongings a week sooner than they hoped.

"A lot of people didn't give us the time of day coming into the season," Griffin said. "They said Michigan State had the Big Ten sewed up. They said we couldn't get past the second round. They said we couldn't beat Kansas. We had a great year. I know we have the best team in the country. We just didn't
do what we were supposed to do tonight." 

Other March Memories:

Close call in 2005 opener - Link

Austin Peay pulls a shocker in 1987 - LInk

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