CHAMPAIGN - So that's what all the buzz was about.

Brandon Paul got his Illinois career off to a wicked-good start with 22 points in Friday's 96-69 season-opening win against Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville at the Assembly Hall.

Paul's outburst set the scoring record for an Illinois freshman in a debut, breaking Deon Thomas' mark of 21 points, established in 1990 against American-Puerto Rico. The state's reigning Mr. Basketball made 8 of 15 shots, including 4 of 6 from three-point range, to lead all scorers. With much of his family in attendance, Paul nailed his first four shots to kickstart the blowout.

D.J. Richardson added 14 points. Demetri McCamey had 11 points and seven assists, while Mike Davis had 10 points and 10 rebounds, his 10th double-double. The Illini were never challenged by the Cougars, who got 13 points from Aamir McCleary.

It was the most points scored by an Illinois team since a 105-79 win against Longwood on Dec. 27, 2004.

Coach Bruce Weber began his seventh season at Illinois by starting a pair of freshmen. Paul and D.J. Richardson became the second and third freshmen to start in their debuts under Weber at Illinois (Brian Randle, 2003).

Weber rotated in 11 players, and nine of them scored. Jeff Jordan sat out the first of two games for a minor NCAA rules violation. Joseph Bertrand did not play due to lingering problems with his right knee.

There were defensive lapses that got Weber's attention. But for a season opener the triumph was relatively clean. Illinois committed just six turnovers through the first 15 minutes and held the Cougars to 33-percent shooting.

Live Report - 10:05 left in second half - Illinois 77, SIUE 41

-Illinois has four players in double figures (Paul, Richardson, McCamey, Davis). Paul leads everyone with 19 points.

-The Cougars are switching between man and a zone. McCamey disrupted the zone for a breakaway layup. Weber applauded the theft, just the team's second of the game.

-One stat the coaching staff will enjoy: only five turnovers so far. That's been a bugaboo in early practices, especially among the freshmen guards, who have a tendency to jump in the air with nowhere to go.

Going to work on our articles for tomorrow's N-G. Check back for a recap.

Klee

Live Report - 17:30 left in second half - Illinois 52, SIUE 30

Here's what Illinois' next wave of recruits will be wearing next season:

No. 22, Jereme Richmond: He considered Deron Williams' No. 5 - and even ran the idea past Deron, who OK'ed the idea - but settled on No. 22. Richmond told me yesterday he wanted to build his own legacy at Illinois. I like that.

No. 12, Meyers Leonard. He preferred two other numbers - but both were taken.

No. 4, Crandall Head. Luther's old number, of course.

-Brandon Paul's grandmother is in attendance. She enjoyed her grandson's 11-point first half.

-Weber came with the same starting 5 to start the second half. Alex Legion was the first sub off the bench, checking in for Richardson at 17:42.

Back in a few.

Klee

Live Report - Halftime - Illinois 47, SIUE 25

-Our unofficial attendance-guesser, who will remain anonymous, estimates a crowd of about 13,000. And we never second-guess him. Strong debut for the 2009-10 Orange Krush. Still some Krush seats open in C Section, but much better than last season.

-SIUE playing some zone. Weber was hoping to see that. One game into his seventh season at Illinois, he's on his way to his 153rd victory. He's wearing a new tie, too.

-Mike Davis on his way to his 10th double-double. The junior had nine last season. He has 10 points and seven boards.

Klee was asked by Tate and Kelly in the pregame show if I was worried about Mike Davis' lackluster exhibition season. Not in the slightest. His offseason development was cut short with the ankle injury and tonsil surgery.

"A lot of it went down the drain," Davis said the other day. "It wasn't a wasted summer, but before the injury I was looking real good."

-ESPN's Stephen Bardo is down here on press row.

-Illinois' next opponent - Northern Ilinois - is trailing Northwestern 34-21 with 2:22 left in the first half, Jeremy Werner reports. Illini-killer Luka Mirkovic has 12 points for the Wildcats.

-SIUE's Cody Rincker hit a 3 at the buzzer to end the first half. He was Bubba Chisholm's roommate at Lincoln Land. We're full of useful information.

-Leading scorer: Brandon Paul with 11 points.

-Leading rebounder: Mike Davis with seven boards.

-Leading distributor: Demetri McCamey with seven assists.

Back in a few.

Klee

Live Report - 4:08 left in the first half - Illinois 339, SIUE 14

-D.J. Richardson's first field goal with the Illini came at 6:50. Some more info on the elbow injury: he was injured while getting through a screen in practice. He's wearing a black wrap on the elbow, and I don't think you'll see too many jumpers, as it's affecting his shooting motion.

-Nine of the 10 Illini to check into the game have scored. Mt. Zion product Mark Yelovich, the top returning scorer for the Cougars has one point and two rebounds. Kid plays hard and has early three fouls.

-One of the officials is a ringer for TNT's Ernie Johnson. On a related note, the Nuggets tipoff against the Lakers at 9:30 p.m.

-Our new deadlines at the News-Gazette this season are earlier than in the past - but it won't affect our amount of coverage.

Back in a few.

Klee

Live Report - 7:27 left in the first half - Illinois 33, SIUE 14

-Richard Semrau on the board with a layup, his first field goal since last season on Feb. 8 against Purdue. The fourth-year junior is fighting for some of those backup center minutes.

-Tyler Griffey, the third UI freshman in the game, checked in for Semrau at 9:55.

-Illinois shooting 68 percent from the field. That will cover up a lot of weaknesses. Meanwhile, SIUE has missed 11 of 15 shots and is shooting 26 percent. That will make your defense look pretty good.

-Our friend Rob McColley points out the Illini are in the bonus - with 7:27 left in the first half. McColley's also in charge of pointing me to the better concerts in C-U.

-Forgot to mention, Jerrance Howard was in charge of the scouting report tonight. Wayne McClain has the scouting report for the Northern Illinois game on Tuesday.

Back in a few.

Klee

Live Report - 11:38 left in the first half - Illinois 25, SIUE 9

-Brandon Paul left the court to applause. The freshman hit his first four shots and leads all scorers with 11 points - all in 6 minutes, 45 seconds of action. His mom and dad, Lynda and Cliff Paul, have reason to grin over behind the Illini bench. They're sitting with the Tisdales.

-Illinois shooting the ball well. The Illini made 10 of their first 13 shots to open a big lead. They also have eight assists on their first 10 field goals, a trademark of last season's team. Somewhere in Germany, watching on ESPN360, Chester Frazier is smiling.

-SIUE doesn't have the horses to keep up. This one will get out of hand quickly.

Back in a few.

Klee

Live Report - 15:17 left in the first half - Illinois 16, SIUE 7

-Brandon Paul and D.J. Richardson are the second and third true freshmen to start in their debuts under Bruce Weber at Illinois. Anybody guess the first? Email us at pklee@news-gazette.com.

-Dominique Keller, a senior, wants to be a starter. How he accepts the role as a reserve will be something to watch. He's enthusiastic and animated - his typical self - on the bench so far.

-Mike Tisdale with the first basket of the season - a dunk - off an assist from Brandon Paul at 19:34.

-Brandon Paul with his first field goal at Illinois - three-pointer from the left wing - at 17:52. If the freshmen are nervous, it doesn't show. The reigning Mr. Basketball followed that with another three, from the right wing. He's 3-for-3.

His play in practice over the last week-and-a-half earned his starting spot. He's been very good at Ubben. His play tonight is helping him keep it.

-Keller and Legion first off the bench, subbing in for DJ Richardson and Mike Davis.

Back in a few.

Klee

Live Report - 5 minutes until tipoff - No. 23 Illinois vs. SIUE

-A few attendance notes: Jason Heggemeyer, director of the ticket office, said they've sold about 13,500 season tickets. Matt Jones, VP of Orange Krush, tells us there are 1,100 Krush members this season, up from 650 last season.

-First time since 2005-06 Illinois is starting the season ranked in the Top 25. That team was No. 17.

-Here's your first starting lineup: Demetri McCamey, D.J. Richardson, Brandon Paul, Mike Davis and Mike Tisdale. Three juniors, two freshmen.

Back in a few.

Klee

Live Report - 25 minutes until tipoff - No. 23 Illinois vs. SIUE

-Big-time show from Jay-Z last night here at the Hall. Here's hoping he never stops touring. I'm told there were probably about 8,000 at the show, and Jay-Z had three dressing rooms, including the visitors locker room at the Hall.

-Large Illini contingent in attendance at Jay-Z, too. Saw Alex Legion, Dominique Keller, Joseph Bertrand, Bill Cole and Mike Davis in the crowd. Three of the players were shown on the big screen. Assistant coach Jerrance Howard was there with his wife Jessica.

-Dickey Simpkins, who coached Brandon Paul on the club circuit with Team NLP, is calling the game for ESPN360 tonight. HQ staff writer Jeremy Werner just caught up with Dickey for some thoughts.

"It's funny I got the call from ESPN to do the Illinois game, and it came at the right time," Simpkins said. "I get to continue to see his (Paul's) development and get to see hiim play his first game in college. It's real special for me. I know he's excited, and I know he's doing well."

Simpkins deserves a great deal of credit for Brandon Paul's development from Warren JV starter to possible freshman starter at Illinois.

-D.J. Richardson going through the second round of warmups. He'll play, but you can see he's limited with that hyperextended elbow.

Back in a few.

Klee

Live Report - 40 minutes until tipoff - No. 23 Illinois vs. SIUE

Good evening everyone. Paul Klee and Jeremy Werner joining you from the Assembly Hall for the first Live Report of the 2009-10 season. Botht teams are on the court, going through warmups. We'll be here through the final buzzer with updates. Feel free to send questions or observations if you're listening to Brian Barnhart and Jerry Hester or watching on ESPN360.

-As is his custom, Mike Tisdale was the first player on the court tonight. Over the last three seasons I can count on one hand the number of times someone has beaten Mike Tisdale to the Hall for pregame warmups. Trent Meacham usually was the culprit. He's in Austria now, averaging 14.2 points for Wels.

-Joseph Bertrand is on the sideline with his right knee in a thick wrap. You won't see him on the court tonight. The coaches are in no hurry to bring him back - not until the knee is fully recovered

-D.J. Richardson has an elbow injury. He's going to play - but he's not close to 100 percent. The injury will affect his shooting. He just dunked during warmups, but the right elbow is bothering him.

-Tonight's game is not on TV. Here's how to watch the game through ESPN360.

-For Klee's prediction and some insight from Mike Davis, click here.

-If you don't already, you should follow us on Twitter.

Back in a few.

Klee