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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Illinois runs over Arizona St.

Photo galleryPhoto gallery: Maui Invitational basketball
 •  Chaminade stays close in loss to Marquette

By Peter Boylan
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Duke's Gerald Henderson, bottom, draws the charging foul from Princeton's Noah Savage. The Blue Devils beat the Tigers, 83-61.

MICHAEL CONROY | Associated Press

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LAHAINA, Maui — The University of Illinois men's basketball team has found plenty of aloha during its swing through the Islands.

The Fighting Illini thrashed Arizona State, 77-54, last night in the last game of the opening round of the EA Sports Maui Invitational. The Illini advanced to play Duke in the second semifinal today at 4:30 p.m. at the Lahaina Civic Center.

Arizona State will face Princeton at 11 a.m. today.

"I thought we did a good job against their system tonight, for the most part we read the stuff that they ran," Illinois coach Bruce Weber said. "If you play hard and you take it to them and play aggressive, good things happen."

Coming off a 79-77 win over the University of Hawai'i at the Stan Sheriff Center Friday, the Illini showed early they were hydrated, over their jet lag and comfortable playing in Hawai'i.

Illinois out-rebounded, out-shot and out-played the Sun Devils, who looked very much like the team that went 8-22 last year.

Forwards Brian Randle and Rodney Alexander scored 17 points each for Illinois.

Illinois shot 57 percent from the field, 58 percent from 3-point range and won the rebounding battle 31-24.

The Sun Devils shot 35 percent from the field, 26 percent from 3-point range.

Illinois hit seven of its first eight shots and galloped to a 20-0 lead at the 14:31 mark in the first half.

Randle threw down a one-handed jam to cap an 8-0 run to start the game for the Illini, prompting Sun Devil coach Herb Sendek to call for time at the 17:57 mark.

"Obviously we took a great shot between the eyes to start the game and never recovered," said Sendek. "Illinois was sharp in every phase and we most certainly can't say the same."

Twice in the first half Illinois junior forward Alexander drove hard to the basket and converted while drawing a foul.

Alexander hit both free throws, then followed a Sun Devil turnover with a 3-pointer from the corner.

The second half mirrored the first for the Sun Devils.

Alexander hit a 3-pointer to open the half and the lead reached 51-33 with 14:15 to go.

Illinois opened a 68-48 lead with 4:35 left, leading to chants of "We want Duke" from the Illinois fans.

Notes: NBA legend Michael Jordan donned an Illinois polo shirt and watched from beneath the makai basket with his daughter as his son, freshman walk-on guard Jeff Jordan, played six first-half minutes for the Illini. Jeff Jordan played 11 minutes but did not score. He missed his only field-goal attempt. On Sunday, Michael Jordan visited the Illinois team hotel to wish Jeff a happy birthday. "We had some excited players. They were like giggly little girls," Weber said.

ARIZONA ST. (0-1)—Pendergraph 2-3 2-2 6, Boateng 1-3 0-0 2, Abbott 1-7 6-7 9, McMillan 1-3 0-0 2, Harden 2-9 2-2 6, Atuahene 2-4 0-0 4, Glasser 2-3 0-0 4, Polk 4-9 3-3 13, Woods 1-2 1-2 3, Kusiks 0-1 0-0 0, Shipp 2-7 0-0 5. Totals 18-51 14-16 54.

ILLINOIS (3-0)—Alexander 5-8 4-5 17, Randle 8-12 1-3 17, Pruitt 4-6 1-2 9, Meacham 2-4 0-0 6, Frazier 3-4 0-0 9, Hicks 0-0 0-0 0, Jordan 0-1 1-2 1, Holdren 0-1 0-0 0, Davis 0-0 0-0 0, Brock 1-4 0-0 2, Cole 0-1 2-2 2, McCamey 2-4 0-0 6, Carlwell 0-0 0-0 0, Semrau 0-0 0-0 0, Tisdale 2-2 4-4 8. Totals 27-47 13-18 77.

Halftime—Illinois 38-24. 3-Point Goals—Arizona St. 4-15 (Polk 2-4, Shipp 1-4, Abbott 1-6, Harden 0-1), Illinois 10-17 (Frazier 3-4, Alexander 3-5, McCamey 2-3, Meacham 2-4, Holdren 0-1). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Arizona St. 24 (Pendergraph 6), Illinois 31 (Randle 8). Assists—Arizona St. 5 (Harden, McMillan, Pendergraph, Shipp, Woods 1), Illinois 17 (Meacham 5). Total Fouls—Arizona St. 17, Illinois 16. A—2,500.

NO. 13 DUKE 83, PRINCETON 61

Freshman forward Kyle Singler had 21 points and 12 rebounds and the Blue Devils (3-0) kept their perfect record on Maui intact with a victory over the Tigers (2-1). Duke, which won the title here in 1992, 1997 and 2001, is 10-0 on the island and six of the wins have been by 20 points or more.

PRINCETON (2-1)—Koncz 0-1 0-0 0, Savage 3-7 0-0 9, Finley 3-10 2-4 8, Schroeder 0-4 0-0 0, Gunn 6-9 1-1 16, Sargeant 4-4 1-1 9, Lake 1-2 2-2 4, Briggs 0-0 0-0 0, Okafor 3-4 1-2 8, Maddox 0-2 0-0 0, Steuerer 2-4 3-4 7, Foley 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-47 10-14 61.

DUKE (3-0)—Singler 9-14 1-1 21, Thomas 2-3 2-3 6, Paulus 3-8 0-0 7, Henderson 6-8 0-1 12, Nelson 3-9 1-2 7, Smith 1-6 0-0 2, Pocius 0-3 2-2 2, McClure 0-0 0-0 0, King 3-9 0-0 7, Scheyer 3-7 3-4 10, Zoubek 4-7 1-2 9. Totals 34-74 10-15 83.

Halftime—Duke 52-31. 3-Point Goals—Princeton 7-14 (Gunn 3-4, Savage 3-5, Okafor 1-1, Schroeder 0-1, Koncz 0-1, Lake 0-1, Steuerer 0-1), Duke 5-19 (Singler 2-3, Scheyer 1-2, King 1-4, Paulus 1-5, Smith 0-1, Nelson 0-1, Pocius 0-3). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Princeton 26 (Savage 6), Duke 44 (Singler 12). Assists—Princeton 9 (Steuerer 4), Duke 14 (Paulus 4). Total Fouls—Princeton 19, Duke 17. A—2,500.

OKLAHOMA ST. 83, LSU 77

Terrel Harris scored a career-high 24 points, including the clinching free throws with 16 seconds to play, as the Cowboys (2-1) hung on to beat the Tigers (2-1).

LSU (2-1)—Mitchell 0-2 0-0 0, Randolph 2-5 1-2 5, Johnson 8-9 0-0 19, M.Thornton 6-14 6-6 20, Martin 2-9 0-0 5, Spencer 3-6 2-2 10, Temple 4-7 6-6 17, Green 0-1 1-2 1. Totals 25-53 16-18 77.

OKLAHOMA ST. (2-1)—Dove 5-9 0-0 12, Thomas 6-9 1-1 15, Harris 6-11 9-10 24, Muonelo 1-5 0-0 2, Anderson 8-16 7-9 25, Eaton 0-2 2-2 2, Brown 1-3 0-0 2, Adams 0-3 0-0 0, Sidorakis 0-0 0-0 0, Moses 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 27-58 20-24 83.

Halftime—Oklahoma State 42-24. 3-Point Goals—LSU 11-25 (Johnson 3-4, Temple 3-5, Spencer 2-3, M.Thornton 2-6, Martin 1-6, Randolph 0-1), Oklahoma St. 9-20 (Harris 3-4, Dove 2-3, Thomas 2-3, Anderson 2-7, Muonelo 0-3). Fouled Out—Green, Thomas. Rebounds—LSU 31 (Martin 6), Oklahoma St. 32 (Harris 7). Assists—LSU 14 (Temple 5), Oklahoma St. 12 (Muonelo 4). Total Fouls—LSU 25, Oklahoma St. 21. A—2,500.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Reach Peter Boylan at pboylan@honoluluadvertiser.com.