Photos of Tuesday's victory against NIU

CHAMPAIGN – The shot-making of precocious leaper Brandon Paul is the talk of the town – 42 points in his first two games – but it still appears the Illini will go only as far as remade point guard Demetri McCamey takes them.

Playmakers are always the key because they make their teammates better. We saw this with Bruce Douglas years ago, and with pass-minded guards like Larry Smith, Kiwane Garris, Frank Williams, Deron Williams and, in recent years, Chester Frazier.

And so it was on Tuesday night as Illinois downed Northern Illinois 80-61. McCamey kept the operation moving when the newcomers cooled (Paul had 20 points in the first half, none thereafter) and the slow-starting Mike Tisdale struggled. McCamey single-handedly got Mike Davis rolling with setup passes at 25-20 and 27-20, and followed shortly with a behind-the-back bounce pass to Tyler Griffey at 36-22.

When NIU closed to 49-46 after halftime, McCamey countered with a breakaway and a blind pass to Davis as the spread returned to 55-46. McCamey closed with eight assists, contributed 10 points with his clever crossover dribble and helped Tisdale come alive late.

"When Demetri got fouls and had to come out, the offense didn't run the same," coach Bruce Weber said. "Demetri is the key to our team."

Leading the way

Compounding point guard concerns is the fact that while D.J. Richardson has many developing assets, he hasn't yet become a take-charge penetrator-feeder.

This may create an opening for Jeff Jordan when he returns Saturday night against Presbyterian. Even with McCamey's newly tightened body, he can't be expected to go 40 minutes, and Jordan has qualities that might work in short stints.

Tisdale, Davis (17 rebounds Tuesday), Alex Legion and the freshmen are deadeyes, but they need direction. They need a facilitator. McCamey is that guy because, while he is not hesitant about shooting – he fired the first two in Tuesday's game – his mental approach is to create for someone else. Richardson had three assists against NIU, and no one else on the club had more than one.

With the game in the bag, Weber substituted liberally but kept McCamey in until the final minute. He's that valuable in keeping order on the court.

Tate's tidbits

– Former Illini Rob Judson, now a third-year assistant at Illinois State, was 74-101 in six seasons at NIU, and another former Illini, then-AD Jim Phillips, removed him after a 7-23 campaign in 2007. Huskies coach Ricardo Patton was 6-22 and 10-20 the last two years.

– Lou Henson will return to the sidelines with the Orange Krush when the former UI coach returns from New Mexico in December. The Krush produced $240,000 for various charities last season and is back in the fundraising business again this season.

– Illinois received no spots on the 50-man John Wooden preseason squad even as the Big Ten landed eight players.

– When Warren Carter lands a basketball job, assuming he hasn't already, that'll make 20 former Illini drawing pro basketball salaries. One of those, Cory Bradford, attended Tuesday's UI game. His season in Colombia, South America, is over, and he'll begin again in Venezuela in a couple of months.

Loren Tate writes for The News-Gazette. He can be reached at ltate@news-gazette.com.