CHAMPAIGN - That's why the Illinois freshmen signed on a straight line 15 months ago.

To help rebuild Illinois basketball into what it used to be.

With ample contributions from rookies Brandon Paul and D.J. Richardson, and another stirring performance from Demetri McCamey, Illinois knocked off No. 5 Michigan State 78-73 before a capacity crowd of 16,618 believers Saturday.

Special found its way back to the Assembly Hall as the Orange Krush rushed the court seconds after Mike Davis cemented the upset with a dunk.

But the party really got started when Paul jammed a SportsCenter-worthy dunk during a 9-2 in the second half. Richardson capped the spurt with a two-handed slam of his own.

The two freshmen combined for 20 points. The star again, however, was McCamey, who notched his third career double-double (22 points, 11 assists). His sixth three-pointer - one shy of a career high - gave Illinois a 73-68 lead with 37 seconds left. At the final buzzer, McCamey leaped on the scorer's table and swung his right hand over his hand.

Illinois (16-8, 8-3 Big Ten), which beat a Top 5 team for the first time since the 2005 national semifinal, got 16 points from Davis and eight rebounds from Mike Tisdale. Michigan State (19-5, 9-2) was led by Draymond Green's 17 points and 16 boards.

HQ Live Report - 11:08 left in reguation - Michigan State 55, Illinois 53

-It's the Demetri McCamey Show, again. Lead guard drilled back-to-back threes, the second from NBA range, to help withstand a Spartans rally.

-Chris Allen matched with a pair of threes of his own. Michigan State forced Illinois to call a timeout after taking a 55-53 lead.

-Bill Cole needs to shoot, Marcus Jackson reports.

-Ron Zook's in the third row behind us. He's watching the shell game on the Jumbotron. Can't tell if he predicted ball No. 1, No. 2 or No. 3.

-In the words of ESPN analyst Mark Jackson, Draymond Green has a grown-man's game. The sophomore - yes, he's a sophomore - has 12 points and 10 boards off the bench. Illinois would love a Draymond Green.

-Brandon Paul picking it up. He has three rebounds - the second-most among Illini. Tisdale has six boards. Marcus and Klee think they've seen Mike Davis pull down more than one rebound, but that's what he has in the official scorebook.

-I felt Illinois had a better chance to win this game than its next three (at Wisconsin, Ohio State, at Purdue), due to the Lucas factor.

Back in a few.

Klee

HQ Live Report - 16:24 left in reguation - Illinois 41, Michigan State 41

-This has the feel of the Purdue game. Illinois had a chance to build a bigger halftime lead in both games but didn't. Michigan State (like Purdue did) is playing with more confidence as a result.

-Tyler Griffey and Brandon Paul continue to show they're wired differently than most freshman. Smooth baseline jumper for Griffey, followed by a team-high nine first-half points from Richardson.

-The Illinois huddle is less enthusiastic than it was. Someone not wearing No. 32 will have to make a play or five down the stretch.

Back in a few.

HQ Live Report - Halftime - Illinois 35, Michigan State 34

-The GameDay crew is back on the floor for its halftime show.

-McCamey has six assists, the same number as Michigan State.

-Crowd didn't like that out-of-bounds call. Neither did Bruce Weber. "No way!" he shouted. "He pushed him!"

-D.J. Richardson has eight points to lead Illinois. Durrell Summers and Chris Allen each have six for Michigan State. Both teams are warm from the field: Illinois (51.9 percent) and Michigan State (55.6).

-If you're wondering how the Krush and its fellow UI students were at the Hall early, early this morning - and then showed up tonight... the Krush distributed over 600 cans of Red Bull to its members before tipoff. The Krush is on an upswing, too. Last year it had 650 members; this year it has 1,100 members.

"We have nothing but respect for him (Izzo) and Michigan State," Krush vice president Matt Jones said before the game. "But tonight it's war."

-Illinois' NCAA tournament chances? Jay Bilas thinks they're good.

"It's too early for the in-and-out stuff, but I think they're an NCAA tournament team," Bilas said this afternoon.

That said, he also acknowledged the Illini's upcoming schedule and noted the Illini will have more chances for losses than most teams.

-Randy Wells, a Cubs starter, is sitting over by Dan Shulman and Dick Vitale, Marcus Jackson reports.

Back in a few.

Klee

HQ Live Report - 6:58 left in the first half - Illinois 30, Michigan State 26

-MIke Shaw said he's no hurry to make a decision on where he'll attend college. He listed a bunch of schools, including but not limited to Texas, Florida, Michigan State, Louisville and Kentucky, in addition to Illinois.

"Right now I'm just taking my time," Shaw said before the game. "I want to go where I'm going to play right away and get better and take my game to the next level."

Shaw said his relationships with Tracy Abrams, Crandall Head, Jereme Richmond and Meyers Leonard is a positive for Illinois.

"Every time I see them, they're like, 'Man, you've got to commit,' especially Meyers," Shaw said.

-The Peoria connection - D.J. Richardson to Billy Cole - resulted in a fast-break dunk from Cole.

-Richardson has a pair of three-pointers, including that last one from the right corner, in front of the Michigan State bench.

-Michigan State is hanging around. Izzo just inserted Mike Kebler, a seldom-used guard that averages 0.7 points and has appeared in 11 - now 12 - games this season.

Back in a few.

Klee

HQ Live Report - 13:25 left in the first half - Illinois 14, Michigan State 12

-Demetri McCamey's second 3 sent the Assembly Hall on fire. Think that was the loudest since.... Jeff Jordan's steal and layup against Michigan State last year.

-Michigan State sans point guard doesn't work as well. With Illinois building a 10-point lead, Tom Izzo quickly sent Korie Lucious down to the scorer's table. Sparty followed with an 8-0 run.

-That's four turnovers for Michigan State.

-Illinois made 4 of its first 5 shots... and then missed five of its next six. Too many jumpers during that stretch.

-That's only two shots for Mike Tisdale, and one was a faraway hook. Bruce Weber is yelling, "Get the ball to Tisdale!"

Back in a few.

Klee

HQ Live Report - Tipoff - No. 5 Michigan State at Illinois

-Odd, unfortunate sight during warmups: Michigan State's Final Four backcourt of Travis Walton (a student assistant on Izzo's staff) and Kalin Lucas (out with a bum ankle).

-Packed house of over 16,000. Doesn't appear to be an empty seat (although we're sure there is, somewhere). Haven't seen the Assembly Hall buzz like this in the past three-plus seasons. The Gordon Game comes close, but that was a different kind of buzz.

-They're going to present a game ball to Demetri McCamey prior to tipoff, honoring his 1,000th point.

-Kenny Battle's in the house.

-So is Ron Guenther, chatting with Rod Cardinal.

-So is Bruce Weber, wearing the orange blazer.

-So is Abdel Nader, an Illinois recruiting target in the Class of 2011 from Niles North. Just talked to him, more later.

-So is Jereme Richmond, who just walked in with fellow UI recruit Crandall Head.

-So is Erin Andrews, but you knew that.

-Starting lineup for Illinois: McCamey, Richardson, Cole, Griffey and Tisdale.

Back in a few.

Klee

HQ Live Report - 28 minutes until tipoff - No. 5 Michigan State at Illinois

-Dominique Keller sank another halfcourter as the Illini went to the locker room.

-Jeff Jordan was the unofficial dunk contest champ for Illinois. D.J. Richardson, with a new haircut, was a close second, Marcus Jackson reports.

-Asked Meyers Leonard who would win the dunk contest next season. He listed a bunch of guys - D.J. Richardson, Brandon Paul, Jereme Richmond and Crandall Head - as candidates. He added, "I hope they let me in it."

-Caught up with Illinois recruiting target Mike Shaw. Other than the June team camp, he said, this is his first visit to the UI campus since the outdoor basketball practice a few years ago. More from Mike Shaw in a minute.

Back in a few.

Klee

HQ Live Report - 50 minutes until tipoff - No. 5 Michigan State at Illinois

-Illini recruiting target Mike Shaw just arrived. Jerrance Howard showing him around. I expect Shaw will spend tomorrow on campus as well.

-Illini signee Meyers Leonard in his usual courtside seat. "Big game," he said yesterday.

-Mike Davis, who had an acting role during the GameDay broadcast this morning, tells me he has no previous experience in theater.

-The Michigan State pregame dunk contest is always worth watching. Chris Allen took the gold today.

-Kalin Lucas is out for tonight, Tom Izzo tells Loren Tate.

-Thanks for listening to the TIS College Bookstore Pregame Show. Enjoyed it tonight.

Back in a few.

Klee

HQ Live Report - 90 minutes until tipoff - No. 5 Michigan State at Illinois

Great evening everyone. Paul Klee and Marcus Jackson joining you with this HQ Live Report. Loads of notes from the Hall tonight. GameDay's here, we're expecting a number of recruits here, Dan Shulman's here (he called the Nuggets blowout of the Lakers last night - respect)... and, oh yeah, there's a ballgame at 8.

-RPI boosts for Illinois today: Gonzaga (win at Memphis), Missouri (win at Colorado). RPI hit for today: Clemson (lost at Virginia Tech). 

-Kalin Lucas (ankle) was in a walking boot yesterday. We'll see shortly if he's on the court for warm-ups

-In no way is this assuming Demetri McCamey is pro-bound, should be pro-bound or will be pro-bound. But Klee asked the junior yesterday if he would consider putting his name in the draft to go through workouts after this season.

"That's not on my mind right now. I'm just thinking, 'Illinois basketball, Illinois basketball,'" McCamey said. "Coach Weber's been through it with Dee, Deron and Luther. I'm going to look at him for advice. If it looks good I'll go try it, because nothing bad can happen. You can pull out and see where you compare to other top players that are trying to get a job.

"It would be a good opportunity. But at the same time I'm just thinking about Illinois basketball and trying to help us get to the NCAA tournament."

And here's the roundup of previews in today's News-Gazette sports section:

-Tonight's game jumpstarts an eight-game stretch that might be the toughest of Bruce Weber's tenure at Illinois. It's the first time in Weber's seven-plus seasons his team will face six ranked teams in eight games. More on that: Click here.

"The remaining Illinois schedule represents an immense challenge," Mike DeCourcy, the veteran college basketball columnist with The Sporting News, said yesterday.

-Klee's prediction: Click here.

-Rossow's prediction: Click here.

-Bubba Chisholm is rewarded with a scholarship: Click here.

-NCAA tournament seeds: Click here.

-Dick Vitale is chatting with Brandon Paul and Mike Davis in front of us. For a photo, click here.

-Going on this TIS College Bookstore Pregame Show. Tune in on WDWS 1400-AM. Back in a few.

Klee