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: IBruce Weber's top-ranked Illini returned to form with a rout of Nevada in the second round, setting up a Sweet 16 matchup against Bruce Pearl.

Headline: A heel-good story — after regaining some of their swagger, the Illini are walking tall

Date: March 19, 2005

By BRETT DAWSON

INDIANAPOLIS — Illinois spent much of the regular season being compared — sometimes unfavorably — to North Carolina.

The Illini bristled when a national media type said the Tar Heels were the superior team, even as the wins piled up in Champaign-Urbana.

Bruce Weber's players didn't much like the comparison.

So imagine their surprise Saturday, when their coach made it himself.

"Did anybody see Carolina play at the beginning of the game (Friday night)?" Weber asked his team. "Guys are diving into the stands, they're making plays, screaming, yelling. We haven't had that. We need to do that."

On Saturday, the top-seeded Illini did just that, storming into the NCAA tournament's Sweet 16 with a 71-59 win against No. 9 seed Nevada at the RCA Dome.

Go ahead and scream, "Heel, yes," Illinois fans.

For one night at least, it looked like your team was back.

"Maybe it was us not being in this situation and us not coming in to a tournament as a No. 1 seed in a long time," Illinois guard Luther Head said. "Maybe that got us all rattled up and not having fun on the court. That's what I've been noticing. It didn't look like we were having fun, but today we were happy and having fun and playing together."

The result was Illinois' most dominating performance since late in the regular season, a game the Illini controlled from the opening moments of the second half.

As a result, Illinois (34-1) is off to meet Wisconsin-Milwaukee – Weber's alma mater and home to former Iowa thorn-in-the-side Bruce Pearl – on Thursday in the Sweet 16 at Allstate Arena in Rosemont.

Nevada (25-7) was determined to keep Illinois' guards bottled up, but that meant leaving plenty of room for the Illini big men to roam.

And on a night when Illinois looked like its old fun-loving self, nobody had a better time than James Augustine (a career-high 23 points, 10 rebounds) and Jack Ingram (12 points, also a career high).

"They gave those guys a lot of space to work with," guard Dee Brown said. "We just got 'em the ball, got 'em involved. Everybody got in on the act tonight."

For the first time in six games, it was a high-wire act.

Illinois shattered its offensive slump, shooting 53.1 percent (its first game better than 50 percent since a regular season win March 3 against Purdue. The Illini also cracked the 70-point mark for the first time since that game.

The numbers alone didn't tell the story.

To appreciate Illinois' reversal of offensive fortune, you had to see the spring in its collective step, the dormant swagger that woke up during a nine-minute stretch in which the Illini outscored the Wolf Pack 21-7 and held Nevada without a field goal.

Illinois dashed and slashed during that stretch, and though it still was without its familiar old three-point shooting eye (the Illini hit a season-low two in 12 attempts), Weber's team looked like the team that dominated the regular season.

And with every basket and stop, every rebound and steal, the orange-wearing majority in the crowd of 40,331 roared its approval.

"Once we got the run, the crowd started to get into it, we got some transition – everything started clicking," Weber said. "It was similar to maybe Michigan State up there, some of the early games at our place. There was just a good flow to the second half."

Still, it wasn't the kind of nearflawless basketball the Illini played in January and February. There was that off-the-mark three-point shooting. And there was a seven-minute stretch late, when Nevada went to a zone defense, in which Illinois didn't put the ball in the basket, its only points coming on a goal-tended jumper by Deron Williams.

That dry spell let Nevada trim a 22-point lead to nine with 1:41 to play, but Illinois pulled away with free throws down the stretch and walked off the court feeling like the Final Four favorite it had been until recent games.

It's worth noting Illinois was 5-1 in that stretch, including a Big Ten tournament title run. But the Illini weren't entirely pleased with their play since the Purdue game, and that was especially true after a 67-55 first-round NCAA win.

"We were just disappointed in our play against Fairleigh Dickinson," Williams said. "We wanted to come out and show everybody who the real Illinois is."

The junior guard did his part, finishing with 15 points and 10 assists and serving as the straw that stirred Illinois' offensive orange drink.

But it was Augustine - motivated, his teammates said, by a News-Gazette graphic on Saturday that gave Nevada's Nick Fazekas the edge in a head-to-head matchup - who stole the Illini show, finishing with his second consecutive NCAA tournament double-double.

After the game, the Illini kept the celebrating to a minimum, staying true to what they'd proclaimed Friday: The Sweet 16 is a path, not a destination, a steppingstone to a higher goal.

But they wore familiar faces in the locker room afterward, the smiles and loose body language reminiscent of the team that walloped Wake Forest and manhandled Michigan State on the road.

Forget the Carolina comparisons. Illinois is just happy to look like Illinois again.

"The games before, I think everybody was coming out tense, maybe worried about all the expectations," Head said. "Today we came out loose and free and having fun. We looked like our old self."

Other March Memories:

Manhandling Creighton in 2002 - Link

Arizona ruins Final Four dream in 2001 - Link

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