Ask Klee about Sunday's here.

* * *

With the winter storms hitting the area hard, Bruce Weber commented before Sunday's game against Northern Colorado that if 2,000 or 3,000 people showed up, he'd be thrilled. The attendance was officially listed at 14,814, but that was tickets sold. Illinois included a turnstile number on the official box score that said 5,157 people were actually there.

Coach and players were happy with the dedicated ones.

"You try to feed off the crowd but you can't worry about that too much," forward Tyler Griffey said. "The people that were brave enough to come here, we're appreciative of that. Those are some dedicated fans."

* * *

Griffey got to the Assembly Hall early Sunday morning to get some extra work in ahead of Sunday's contest. He wasn't alone. His basketball coach from middle school, Dave Sellers, made the drive from the St. Louis area to Champaign to help Tyler with his game.

"He woke up at 5 in the morning, came up from St. Louis and we got about 600 shots up before shootaround, before anybody got here. We just kind of tweaked my shot a little bit and it just got my confidence back. I'm already feeling better and I was ready to play," Griffey said.

The 6-foot-8 sophomore responded, making his only two shot attempts in 11 minutes. His four points were his first since Nov. 27 at Western Michigan. Sellers didn't stick around to see it.

"I think the poor guy is stuck on I-57 right now, he didn't even stay for the game. He had a sister-in-law in town so he came up. We got one workout in so I'm so appreciative of him to come up and do that for me," Griffey said.

* * *

Before the game, Jereme Richmond was honored on the floor for his contributions to USA Basketball this summer. The freshman from Waukegan helped the U.S. win the 2010 FIBA Americas Championship in June.

"It was a good honor so I was happy about that," Richmond said.

Richmond scored eight points Sunday and was also hit with a technical foul in the second half for making contact with a Northern Colorado player after the whistle.

"I asked the ref and he said during a (held ball) that I hit someone in the face with an elbow," Richmond said. "It wasn't intentional and I was just trying to get the ball. I didn't hear a timeout called, I was just playing until I heard the whistle. It's my mistake and I'll learn from it."

It was the first technical foul of Richmond's career, though he was assessed one in an exhibition game against Southern Indiana. He also had a similar incident in the win against Gonzaga last week, though no foul was called.

"(Weber) said I got to learn because that's twice that same thing has happened, once against Gonzaga and once here. So I don't want to get a reputation of someone who's a dirty player because it was unintentional," Richmond said.

* * *

After completing a take-home final this week, Richmond will officially be done with his first semester of college. He said he's had his ups and downs, but his Illinois basketball family has helped him make the transition.

"It was a little tough but the coaches and the staff do a good job of keeping us focused," he said.

Other players have some work ahead of them before their semesters are done. To accommodate, the coaches have scaled back the practice schedule. The Illini will lift weights today and watch film and will have Tuesday off.

"I'm going right now to study. I've got two finals (today) and one Friday," Griffey said. "We've got some things we need to work on this week, but we've got to finish strong in the classroom, too."

* * *

When most of the 5,157 fans had emptied from the Assembly Hall, a few folks, mostly family and friends of the players, remained. There was a loud cheer from the dozens in attendance.

They were cheering for Abe Christofilakos and Liz Gall. Christofilakos got down on one knee and proposed to his longtime girlfriend on the floor. She said yes. The couple is friends of Illinois center Mike Tisdale, and he was instrumental in making it happen.

"I've been planning it for about a month and a half. Mike comes over to the house all the time. I feed him so I felt like maybe he would think he owed me one," Christofilakos said. "Mike did everything for us. I'm still shaking, I was nervous for sure."

Gall hugged anyone in sight after and wiped away tears while showing off her new diamond.

"I was extremely surprised. It's been six years so I wasn't sure exactly when it was coming," the bride-to-be said. "He's more of a low-key guy so for him to do all this is definitely a surprise. I always said I would not be that girl who cries, but I did."

Christofilakos is the cousin of former Illinois kicker Peter Christofilakos.

* * *

Northern Colorado's Neal Kingman lit up the Illini for 21 points on 7-of-9 shooting, including 5 of 6 from behind the three-point line.

Good thing, too. He had his own personal cheering section behind the Bears' bench.

"My whole family lives in Illinois, except for my immediate family," the Greeley, Colo., native said. "I have family in Bloomington-Normal, grandparents in Peoria, Wilmette and St. Charles. It's always good to be able to play well in front of family. It was cool to be able to come here and play, that's for sure."

His visit with relatives will go on a little longer than expected. The Bears were scheduled to bus to Chicago on Sunday night and fly back to Colorado. But the winter storm stranded them overnight in Champaign, where they'll spend the night at the I-Hotel in hopes of leaving today.

"If we're stuck here, they're stuck here, too, so we may go back to the hotel and just hang out. That would be nice," Kingman said.

* * *

It was Meyers Leonard poster night at the Assembly Hall, but the 7-foot freshman didn't play. Weber said Leonard is nursing a sprained shoulder he suffered in practice.

"There was a little tie up on a rebound or a play in practice on Thursday," Weber said. "We were hoping he could get back. (Athletic trainer) Al Martindale was afraid if he got tied up with someone he could hurt it worse and be out. I figure by Wednesday he can get back to practice and hopefully play by the weekend."