1998 Illini Mens Basketball

NCAA Tournament Scores:

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- Obinna Ekezie, scoreless until the final six
minutes of the game, hit a game-tying jumper and six free throws down the
stretch as Maryland held off an Illinois 67-61 Saturday in the second round
of the NCAA West Regional.

Vowing to pound the ball inside, Maryland instead turned to the outside
shooting of Sarunas Jasikevicius, who scored 20 points, and Rodney Elliott,
who added 16, to overcome Illinois' muscular play.

Maryland (21-10) led by as many as 13 points in the first half and 41-29
early in the second half. But the brawny Illini (23-10) worked their way back
to tie the game for the first time 49-49 with 7:36 to go, then took their
first lead on Kevin Turner's 3-pointer.

Maryland tied it and retook the lead, but Illinois stayed with the Terps
and tied it three more times -- on a jumper and another 3-pointer by Turner,
and a short jumper by Jarrod Gee that made it 61-61 with 56 seconds left.

Gee, who scored 14 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, did a masterful job in
containing the 6-10 Ekezie, 2 inches taller and 10 pounds heavier. But
Ekezie's free-throw shooting down the stretch, including two with 36 seconds
left and another pair with 16 seconds to go, sealed the victory.

Ron Kovarik's final free throws with seven seconds left gave Maryland the
last six points of the game.

                SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP)  Slapping the floor to build defensive intensity and
                slapping away passes all over the court, Illinois used 13 steals and tenacious inside
                defense to defeat South Alabama 64-51 in the West Regional.

                Kevin Turner had 18 points and Matt Heldman added 15 as the Fighting Illini
                (23-9) forced 20 turnovers Thursday in a win that sent Illinois to a second-round
                game against Maryland.

                Toby Madison had 19 points to lead South Alabama (21-7) and Rico Alderson,
                looking like a cross between Allen Iverson and Latrell Sprewell with long braided
                corn rows beneath a black headband, added 13 points.

                Illinois, the best defensive team in the Big Ten this season, took control by forcing
                South Alabama into repeated mistakes. The Illini stoked their defensive frenzy by
                slapping the floor as the Jaguars headed downcourt.

                South Alabama led eventual national champion Arizona by 10 points with seven
                minutes remaining in the NCAA tournament's first round last year before losing.
                This time, the Jaguars never led in the second half.

                Leading 28-24 at halftime, Illinois had only one basket in the opening 5:15 of the
                second half but extended its lead to 35-30 on Heldman's 3-pointer.

                The Illini used three straight steals to build that lead to nine points, and maintained
                that margin as Jarrod Gee scored on an alley-oop dunk to make it 48-39 with 5:24
                left. Gee then stole a pass and went in alone for a dunk, and the Jaguars never got
                close again.

                The game pitted two coaches who have appeared in the NCAA tournament with
                three teams each. Only 12 active coaches have accomplished that.

                Illinois coach Lon Kruger has been in the tournament with Kansas State in
                1987-90, Florida in 1994-95 and Illinois the past two seasons.

                South Alabama coach Bob Weltlich has taken Mississippi (1981), Florida
                International (1995) and the Jaguars to the tournament, but has lost in the first
                round each time.

                Weltlich took over as South Alabama coach last Oct. 7 when Bill Musselman
                resigned to become an assistant coach of the Portland Trail Blazers.

                The Illini used strong interior defense to force the Jaguars to the perimeter during
                the first half, and South Alabama struggled to hit its shots.

                The Jaguars went more than nine minutes without a field goal during one span.
                Illinois outscored South Alabama 14-2 during that stretch to build a 10-point lead.

                The Jaguars, who got 10 points from Alderson in the first half, scored the last six
                points before halftime to pull within four points. Turner had 10 points for Illinois in
                the first half.

Roster

Stats:

Through Wednesday, March 11 

                                               Rebounds
                      G  Min  PPG  RPG  APG Off- Def- Tot  AST Stl BLK  To  PF

Kevin Turner         31 1026 17.9  3.3  2.8  15-  87- 102   86  43   3  88  53
Jerry Hester         31  970 14.7  5.5  1.4  60- 109- 169   44  25   6  53  64
Matt Heldman         31 1125 11.0  3.0  4.1  10-  82-  92  127  40   0  81  62
Jarrod Gee           31  731  8.3  5.2  0.6  61-  99- 160   19  29  28  36  99
Brian Johnson        31  856  6.8  4.4  2.4  49-  86- 135   73  27  16  50  84
Jeff Reichardt        1    2  6.0  0.0  0.0   0-   0-   0    0   0   0   1   0
Sergio Mcclain       31  513  3.6  3.1  1.6  32-  65-  97   49  37   9  51  79
Arias Davis          26  190  3.4  0.7  0.4   5-  14-  19    9   5   0  12  19
Victor Chuckwudebe   31  419  2.1  3.6  0.3  45-  65- 110    8  11  17  17  71
Awvee Storey         26  151  2.1  1.2  0.2   9-  23-  32    6   5   5  10  27
Dave Wilkinson        1    1  1.0  0.0  0.0   0-   0-   0    0   0   0   0   0
Rich Beyers          21   81  0.7  0.9  0.1   6-  12-  18    3   0   1   5  13
David Freeman        18   25  0.4  0.3  0.0   2-   3-   5    0   1   0   2   4
Jelani Boline        27  130  0.3  0.4  0.6   2-   8-  10   16   3   0  14  16
Luke Williams         1    1  0.0  0.0  0.0   0-   0-   0    0   0   0   0   0
Nate Mast             1    2  0.0  0.0  0.0   0-   0-   0    0   0   0   1   0
Dave Gallagher        1    1  0.0  0.0  0.0   0-   0-   0    0   1   0   0   0
Brian Campbell        1    1  0.0  1.0  0.0   0-   1-   1    0   0   0   0   1


                 Fg              3pt             Ft
                 M-A      PCT    M-A      PCT    M-A      PCT  PTS  HI

Turner         206-484   .426   74-201   .368   68-94    .723  554  35
Hester         174-366   .475   38-107   .355   70-90    .778  456  27
Heldman         93-228   .408   61-156   .391   94-110   .855  341  19
Gee            106-205   .517    0-0     .000   45-73    .616  257  26
Johnson         75-129   .581    0-0     .000   62-89    .697  212  18
Reichardt        2-3     .667    2-3     .667    0-0     .000    6   6
Mcclain         40-118   .339    4-23    .174   27-62    .435  111  14
Davis           31-84    .369   24-70    .343    3-7     .429   89  14
Chukwudebe      25-68    .368    0-1     .000   16-23    .696   66  10
Storey          24-57    .421    0-1     .000    6-16    .375   54  11
Wilkinson        0-0     .000    0-0     .000    1-2     .500    1   1
Beyers           4-14    .286    0-0     .000    6-12    .500   14   8
Freeman          3-5     .600    0-1     .000    1-4     .250    7   2
Boline           0-6     .000    0-1     .000    8-16    .500    8   3
Williams         0-1     .000    0-0     .000    0-0     .000    0   0
Mast             0-0     .000    0-0     .000    0-0     .000    0   0
Gallagher        0-0     .000    0-0     .000    0-0     .000    0   0
Campbell         0-0     .000    0-0     .000    0-0     .000    0   0

BIG TEN CHAMPS!!!

	Big Ten	Overall
Illinois	14-4	23-10
Michigan State	13-4	22-8
Purdue	14-5	28-8
Michigan	14-5	25-9
Indiana	10-8	20-12
Iowa	9-8	20-11
Penn State	8-9	19-13
Minnesota	8-11	20-15
Wisconsin	4-14	12-19
Northwestern	3-14	10-17
Ohio State	1-16	8-22

Matt Heldman
Assembly Hall at halftime...the Chief
Kiwanne and Chukwudebe against Michigan, 1996-97 season
Another of Victor Chukwedebe
Kiwanne Garris taking a free-throw after Michigan getting called for a T!
Chief!!

Thanks to my dad for taking these nice shots!