No. 1 Illinois Routs Longwood 105-79

Posted 5:20AM on Tuesday 28th December 2004 ( 20 years ago )

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) - Dee Brown and his Illinois teammates didn't even try to put a positive spin on the top-ranked Illini's sloppy victory over Longwood. The Illini (12-0) beat Longwood 105-79 on Monday night, setting season highs for points and points allowed against the overmatched Lancers (1-14). "We didn't have a lot of energy, we just didn't play well and they came out with a lot of heart," said Dee Brown, who had eight points and 13 assists. "We played a good 5 minutes. That was the only good thing about the game." That came late when the Illini, ignited by one of Deron Williams' four 3-pointers, ran off 16 straight points to make it 89-65 with 5:54 to go. Williams scored a season-high 23 points and had seven assists for Illinois. Luther Head added 20 points, James Augustine had 16 and Roger Powell Jr. 13. The Lancers fought back from an 18-point first-half deficit and stayed with the Illini deep into the second half. Longwood trailed by seven with 12:33 to go and were down by eight with 9:13 left. "At that point in time, you look up and you realize we've done it now for 30 minutes, why can't we keep it going for another 10 minutes?" Longwood coach Mike Gillian said. In the only other Top 25 games Monday night, No. 19 Louisville routed Morehead State 104-40, and No. 22 Cincinnati beat Miami of Ohio 77-53. Michael Jefferson scored a career-high 30 points for the Lancers. "There was no backing down, you could tell he wasn't scared. He just really killed us," Brown said. Chad Kosmo and Husein Pistoljevich each scored 12 points for Longwood, and Lamar Barrett and Leland Beale had 10 points each. "We earned their respect," Jefferson said. "My teammates stepped up. Everybody stepped up, made big plays, played good defense, made some big shots." The Lancers are playing a full NCAA Division I schedule for the first time this season and the crowd of 16,618 was almost 16,000 more than they see at a typical home game. Illinois won its 38th straight nonconference game at Assembly Hall. "This is extremely significant for our players, for our university," Gillian said. "We've got some good players, they're great kids and they're going to give a lot of effort." Illinois coach Bruce Weber said he had noticed the team was starting to lag defensively and "went off" during Sunday's practice, but he said now it's up to his players. "Defense is habits and pride," Weber said. "We lost some habits because of no practice time and then we've lost a little bit of pride." With a game against Cincinnati looming Friday night and the Big Ten season beginning next week, the Illini can't afford to rest on their laurels, Weber said. "We've got to click it in defensively. That's what's made us No. 1," he said. "If we don't click it in defensively, we're not going to be No. 1 for very long." Both teams are headed to Las Vegas for two games later this week as part of the Las Vegas Holiday Classic. Longwood meets Cincinnati and Valparaiso. Illinois faces Northwestern State on Thursday before Friday's game against the Bearcats.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2004/12/144418