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Mike Davis tries to avoid it, all players do. But with all the message boards and fans sites out there with folks able to express their opinions on the Internet, it’s hard not to read what’s being said about you. In the good times and the bad.

“Someone text me and told me to look at the message boards and maybe it’ll motivate you and I did and I saw some of the stuff people were saying,” Davis said after coming off the bench to score 16 points in Illinois’ 78-73 upset of No. 5 Michigan State on Saturday at the Assembly Hall. “It kind of hurt me because they’re my fans. I didn’t take it to heart too much, I just put more work in.”

About 400 shots worth of work before the game. After taping the opening segment of ESPN’s College GameDay early Saturday morning with Bob Knight, er, Digger Phelps, Davis hit the gym after the team meal to hoist a bunch of jumpers.

“I was feeling good and Coach (Bruce Weber) told me ‘If you’re gonna come in and shoot, shoot in the game,’ ” Davis said. “That’s what I did, whenever I was open I shot and I was trying to be aggressive tonight.”

It was a much-needed performance from Davis who was averaging 5.8 points over his last four games and coming off the bench for the first time since his freshman year.

“It feels good, hopefully I can get my minutes back, start playing 35, 36 minutes like I was playing before,” Davis said.

***

Freshman Brandon Paul, who like Davis had been battling some recent struggles, got a pep talk before the game from ESPN’s Dick Vitale, a former college and NBA coach.

“He was telling me he liked my game and I have potential and I really think that pumped me up,” said Paul, who came off the bench to score eight points and grab six rebounds. “It was real exciting to talk to him. I’ve always watched him and I was just nervous trying to figure what to say.”

Equally as important as what Paul provided on the stat sheet was the energy he provided the Illini when the Spartans continued to fight back.

“I thought Brandon gave us a great spark off the bench,” captain Bill Cole said. “He’s been struggling a little bit but he’s got mental toughness, got a steal, a dunk and an and-one, doing the stuff we knew he could do.”

Paul and fellow freshman D.J. Richardson (14 points) didn’t seem to be rattled by the big-game atmosphere or the national spotlight against the Big Ten-leading Spartans.

“The two freshmen give us some athleticism,” Weber said. “(Paul’s) practiced well but he gets in the game and tries to do too much. I just told him let the game come to you. He still shot 10 shots in 21 minutes but I thought they were good shots.” 

***

If not for McCamey’s performance and Illinois pulling the upset, the story of the game might have been Michigan State’s Draymond Green.

The 6-foot-6, 235-pound manchild scored 17 points and grabbed 16 rebounds off the bench for the Spartans.

“He’s a warrior, man, he’s a warrior,” MSU coach Tom Izzo said. “He just grits his teeth and doesn’t care about all the flash and dash. He is the perfect Spartan, he’s just a blue-collar workhorse and we’re gonna ride him like a jackass. He does the job, tougher than nails and winning matters to him, it really does and we need a few more of those.”

Count Weber among the growing number of fans for Green, who won’t make many top-10 highlight reels, but just gets the job done.

“Can’t say enough about Green, I love the guys, love his attitude, his body, his intensity,” Weber said. “The kid cares, he wants to win, he’ll do anything, he’ll listen, he’s coachable.” 

***

It was a long day for the Illinois fans, especially the 4,134 who attened the morning taping of College GameDay and stuck around for the main event Saturday night.

But the long day didn’t take away from the energy inside the Assembly Hall, which was as loud as it’s been all season.

The players and coaches noticed the enthusiasm.

“It was crazy, it was sold out and not like a regular sellout like sometimes they say it’s sold out and there are some empty seats, but every seat was filled. It was crazy, I loved it,” Paul said.

“They probably had a bunch of Red Bull in them, so much energy,” Weber said.

After Davis converted a thunderous dunk to seal the win in the final seconds, the students rushed the floor and set off a wild celebration with thei Illini.

“That was the first time I’ve ever had a court stormed in favor of me,” Cole said. “It was awesome, anytime you beat a top-5 team in the country, ESPN GameDay, with this much hype around it, it’s just great for the program.”

***

Michigan State was without leading scorer and reigning Big Ten Player of the Year Kalin Lucas on Saturday, but that didn’t take away from the excitement of the Illini afterward.

“I’m not gonna lie, he’s a great player and I’m sure they would have loved to have him tonight, but they’re an excellent team with or without him,” Cole said. “They crash the boards so hard and they run their offense so well that they’re tough to beat any day.”

Izzo said Lucas tried to test his injured right ankle in the pregame shootaround, but the point guard just couldn’t go.

There is no timetable set for his return.

“I do a lot of things but winning at an expense of hurting a kid the rest of the year isn’t one of them, so there’s no decision on that,” Izzo said.