by Chris Maynard
 YouTube | The first edition of “Poison Pills” examines a disappointing loss for a surprising Illinois team back in the 1997 NCAA Tournament. Context: As an Illinois fan for 20 years, there have been more heartbreaking Illini losses than the second round upset |
at the hands of UT-Chattanooga in the 1997 NCAA Tournament.
Just off the top of mind, the 2005 title game loss to North Carolina, the 2001 defeat to Arizona in the Elite Eight, 2006 and 2007 scoring droughts against Washington and Virginia Tech, a 2003 stinker against Notre Dame, etc., are just some games that were more difficult to swallow.
Still, looking back, this 1997 game was a missed opportunity for #6 seed Illinois to reach its first Sweet Sixteen since 1989, when the Illini advanced to the Final Four. The Illini would not get back to a Sweet Sixteen until 2001.
In the Illini’s Southwest Region of the 1997 NCAA Tournament, things were going haywire.
In the first round, UT-Chattanooga had knocked off #3 seed Georgia, coached by Tubby Smith in his last game as the Bulldogs coach.
Just prior to the Illinois-Chattanooga game, the #2 seed Duke Blue Devils had been upset by the #10 seed Providence Friars, which had knocked off #7 seed Marquette in the first round.
After beating #11 seed USC in the first round, Illinois was actually going to face a lower-seeded team, which seemed like a nice break indeed but clearly was not.
Whether true or not, I have heard rumors that UT-Chattanooga had been motivated by some Illinois disrespect during the first round.
After the Mocs upset Georgia, I was told by a knowledgeable friend that some Illini were chanting Sweet Sixteen in the hallways as they prepared to take the floor against USC.
Whatever the case, the Mocs would play with plenty of motivation as the Cinderella of the 1997 NCAA Tournament, the lowest seed to get to the Sweet Sixteen.
As often is the case, the Illini were left wondering, What if?
The Specifics: This second-round game was played on Sunday, March 16, 1997, at the Charlotte Coliseum, home of the Charlotte Hornets. With its orange and blue tournament court, the Charlotte Coliseum was a favorite first- and second-round venue of mine. It would also host first-round games in 1999, with Steve Alford’s Southwest Missouri State emerging as an unlikely Sweet Sixteen participant.
The game was called by Tim Brando and former Iowa coach George Raveling. While occasionally calling Illinois senior center Chris Gandy “Gandhi,” Raveling was actually interesting to listen to. As a color commentator, he spent a lot of time explaining how both teams were changing defenses, analysis that is not always present nowadays.
Where I Was: I remember visiting my aunt and uncle’s house in Mt. Prospect, Illinois, for my younger cousin Jimmy’s birthday. Jimmy was born a week before the 1989 Illini made the Final Four so he would have been 8 years old at the time. I was a freshman in high school, and my Illini fandom was in its infancy. To be honest, I am going to admit that I did not watch much of this game, as I was running around and playing basketball at the party. I do remember checking in on the score every couple of minutes, and realizing that the Illini were letting this game slip away. I can vividly remember a Kiwane Garris turnover late in the second half that sealed the game.
For what it’s worth, this loss was what it was at the time. I did not have a heartbroken reaction as the 1997 Illini were a fun team who overachieved. Looking back and seeing how the bracket was unfolding, I would have been much more disappointed if this game had taken place, say three years later, when I had become a full-blown nut for the Illini.
Game Breakdown: With “Poison Pills,” I will watch this game, courtesy of YouTube, and try to break down what’s happening during the four-minute television timeouts. I will then provide analysis afterward and some context as to what happened next.
Here is the game in its entirety.
Just off the top of mind, the 2005 title game loss to North Carolina, the 2001 defeat to Arizona in the Elite Eight, 2006 and 2007 scoring droughts against Washington and Virginia Tech, a 2003 stinker against Notre Dame, etc., are just some games that were more difficult to swallow.
Still, looking back, this 1997 game was a missed opportunity for #6 seed Illinois to reach its first Sweet Sixteen since 1989, when the Illini advanced to the Final Four. The Illini would not get back to a Sweet Sixteen until 2001.
In the Illini’s Southwest Region of the 1997 NCAA Tournament, things were going haywire.
In the first round, UT-Chattanooga had knocked off #3 seed Georgia, coached by Tubby Smith in his last game as the Bulldogs coach.
Just prior to the Illinois-Chattanooga game, the #2 seed Duke Blue Devils had been upset by the #10 seed Providence Friars, which had knocked off #7 seed Marquette in the first round.
After beating #11 seed USC in the first round, Illinois was actually going to face a lower-seeded team, which seemed like a nice break indeed but clearly was not.
Whether true or not, I have heard rumors that UT-Chattanooga had been motivated by some Illinois disrespect during the first round.
After the Mocs upset Georgia, I was told by a knowledgeable friend that some Illini were chanting Sweet Sixteen in the hallways as they prepared to take the floor against USC.
Whatever the case, the Mocs would play with plenty of motivation as the Cinderella of the 1997 NCAA Tournament, the lowest seed to get to the Sweet Sixteen.
As often is the case, the Illini were left wondering, What if?
The Specifics: This second-round game was played on Sunday, March 16, 1997, at the Charlotte Coliseum, home of the Charlotte Hornets. With its orange and blue tournament court, the Charlotte Coliseum was a favorite first- and second-round venue of mine. It would also host first-round games in 1999, with Steve Alford’s Southwest Missouri State emerging as an unlikely Sweet Sixteen participant.
The game was called by Tim Brando and former Iowa coach George Raveling. While occasionally calling Illinois senior center Chris Gandy “Gandhi,” Raveling was actually interesting to listen to. As a color commentator, he spent a lot of time explaining how both teams were changing defenses, analysis that is not always present nowadays.
Where I Was: I remember visiting my aunt and uncle’s house in Mt. Prospect, Illinois, for my younger cousin Jimmy’s birthday. Jimmy was born a week before the 1989 Illini made the Final Four so he would have been 8 years old at the time. I was a freshman in high school, and my Illini fandom was in its infancy. To be honest, I am going to admit that I did not watch much of this game, as I was running around and playing basketball at the party. I do remember checking in on the score every couple of minutes, and realizing that the Illini were letting this game slip away. I can vividly remember a Kiwane Garris turnover late in the second half that sealed the game.
For what it’s worth, this loss was what it was at the time. I did not have a heartbroken reaction as the 1997 Illini were a fun team who overachieved. Looking back and seeing how the bracket was unfolding, I would have been much more disappointed if this game had taken place, say three years later, when I had become a full-blown nut for the Illini.
Game Breakdown: With “Poison Pills,” I will watch this game, courtesy of YouTube, and try to break down what’s happening during the four-minute television timeouts. I will then provide analysis afterward and some context as to what happened next.
Here is the game in its entirety.
First Half
20:00 – under 16: Illinois leads 9-8. Foreshadowing is the name of the game here as the two Mocs who will end up killing Illinois all day, big man Chris Mims and guard Willie Young score the first four points for UT-Chattanooga. Illinois’ Kevin Turner hits the team’s first shot and then follows with a miss on what will be a tough shooting night. UT-Chattanooga jumps out to an 8-3 lead on a Wes Moore three before Illinois hits back-to-back threes from Chris Gandy and Kiwane Garris. UT-Chattanooga star Johnny Taylor is scoreless thus far, missing two open jumpers and two free throws.
Under 16-under 12: Illinois leads 14-13. Raveling makes a good point as the tempo of the game is starting to become a half-court grinder, which favors Illinois. The defense for both teams is picking up, but Illinois is extending possessions with three offensive rebounds, which lead to five points on a Matt Heldman three and a Victor Chukwudebe layup. Young is keeping the Mocs in the game with his ability to shoot over his defender. Young hits a jumper over the smaller Heldman and then uses a nice pump fake to get by and into the body of Brian Johnson for a crafty three-point play.
Under 12-under 8: Illinois leads 25-22. This is a great offensive stretch for the Illini as Gandy gets cooking, scoring 7 points. The Illini is doing a great job getting into the middle of the Mocs’ zone, specifically at the free throw line for mid-range jumpers, as seen on a Jerry Gee make, and high-low opportunities. Bryant Notree scores on nice pass off a curl from Garris and later misses a reverse layup on a beautiful high-low feed from Gandy. Hanging in the game, UT-Chattanooga is more brutish on offense, and the game plan is clear: post up Illinois’ smaller guards. Guard Isaac Conner scores on a nice post up out of the timeout but then chucks up some shots, getting swatted on a drive by Gandy and missing a forced three. Taylor is getting swarmed by the Illini defense whenever catching the ball in the lane, but finally scores on an Illini mistake. Trying to steal minutes, Kruger inserts the rarely-used, undersized guard Jelani Boline, who gets a rebound but dribbles too quickly with the ball, crashing into a teammate and turning it over. Taylor is there to pick up the remains and get a two-hand slam. Just before the timeout, Gandy picks up a suspect over-the-back call. That’s his second foul, and an omen of bad things to come for the Illini big men.
Under 8-under 4: Illinois leads 30-27. Saddled by fouls and an undersized front line, Illinois is starting to break down on the interior defensively, and the offense is becoming too one-on-one. UT-Chattanooga is the more physical team on the blocks, and Illinois has to overcompensate by gang rebounding, which will tire them out. The Mocs tie the game at 25 on three free throws. UT-Chattanooga is in the bonus. Illinois ends a 3:18 scoring drought as Garris gets out of some hero ball with a nice dish to Chukwudebe for an and-one. Turner overpenetrates but kicks out to Gandy, who hits a bail out three. Taylor has made his second field goal, on a silky-smooth, hanging jumper over Heldman at the top of the key. The Mocs are not a normal Southern Conference team. They look to be the stronger and more athletic team whereas Illinois is limited and must rely on teamwork and guile.
Under 4-Halftime: Illinois leads 34-33. Illinois does a nice job of regaining control of the game up until the final minute of the half. The Illini are back to patient offense, utilizing the pass to get into the middle of the zone. Chukwudebe is having an unlikely first half, hitting a nice turn-around for his sixth point of the game, and a Turner drive and pull-up gives the Illini its biggest lead of the game at 34-28 with a minute to go. UT-Chattanooga goes back inside to backup big Marquise Collier, who is bigger than anyone on Illinois’ front line. Heldman has a brain fart, forcing a quick shot, and Conner hits a three with under five seconds to go. Just like that, the game is back to one point.
Halftime Review: Illinois shot 52% from the field, and UT-Chattanooga 50%. The biggest lead was 6 for Illinois. UT-Chattanooga’s biggest lead was three. Foul trouble is a concern for Illinois, with Gandy and Notree with 2 apiece. UT-Chattanooga did what an underdog had to do, hanging around while establishing its physicality down low.
First Half Stars: Gandy has 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting, and is an amazing 15-of-20 from the field thus far in the tournament. Mims has 4 points and 6 rebounds, stats that don’t jump out but fail to show how the Mocs have a superior advantage on the interior.
Second Half
20:00-under 16: Illinois leads 47-41. The whistles are getting tight, and the fouls are picking up. The refs have called 8 fouls in the first four minutes. Illinois is the victim of the first three fouls, with Gee and Gandy picking up some ticky-tack, touch fouls. Both have three fouls and are out of the game. A double foul is later called on Garris and Conner after a physical confrontation in front of the Illinois bench. UT-Chattanooga is then whistled for several more fouls, including a controversial one off-the-ball after a Heldman spinning layup, allowing the Illini to retain possession. Illinois immediately posts up Garris, who goes to work and banks in a shot for a 45-41 lead. After a UT-Chattanooga miss and blocking call on Young, Mack McCarthy has had enough and gets a technical foul. Garris hits two free throws, and Illinois has tied its biggest lead of the game. After scoring just 4 points in the first half, Garris has come out rolling, scoring 9 points, including 5 straight for the Illini on beautiful curls off of effective baseline screens. Heldman has added four crafty points. The Charlotte Coliseum is getting ornery, and the fans are starting to get behind the Mocs based on the last couple of fouls. Taylor is off to a good start, making a beautiful touch pass off a post feed to Moore for a three, drawing several fouls on Gee and Gandy, and then hitting a mid-range jumper in the lane after a sagging Gandy picked up his third. The game was tied at 41 after Young nailed a transition three at the top of the key as no one on Illinois picked him up following a missed 3-on-2 opportunity. After Illinois’ 6-0 run, this clearly is going to be a testy second half.
Under 16-under 12: Illinois leads 52-49. The tide has shifted dramatically as the Mocs are the more intense team. McCarthy’s technical has gotten them fired up. Both teams are in the bonus, and Illinois actually gets its biggest lead of the game, 52-45, on two Brian Johnson free throws. However, the game turns at this point. UT-Chattanooga gets four offensive boards on the next four possessions, and draws four Illinois fouls, including Gandy’s fourth. UT-Chattanooga has left points at the free throw line, but Illinois is in deep foul trouble due to its undersized front line. After hitting a tough baseline floater, Young picked up his fourth. Taylor is stepping up for the Mocs, as is Mims, who gets a big and-one off a missed jumper. The leftover Providence and Duke fans have joined the UT-Chattanooga fans, and are rooting hard for the Mocs. The Bronx cheers are coming out after Illinois is whistled for fouls. Despite committing only 5 turnovers, and having a 17 to 1 advantage off points off turnovers, Illinois is only up three. This does not bode well. How long can the Illini hang on?
Under 12-under 8: Illinois leads 59-55. The Illini have not made a field goal in a long time, but are holding on at the free throw line. UT-Chattanooga actually took a 53-52 lead on beautiful baseline spin, leading to an and one, but the Mocs haven’t been able to capitalize on the momentum. Illinois is treading water, thanks to Brian Johnson, who drew two charges, made a steal and hit two free throws. Garris has all of the other Illini points from the line. There is not much movement to the Illinois offense though, and this game is stuck in the mud on both ends. Out of the timeout, Gee immediately misses a post-up, and compounds that with his fourth foul, 90 feet away from the basket. Chukwudebe also has picked up his fourth foul. It feels like UT-Chattanooga should be winning at this point. CBS does a Live-Look In of the end of the Clemson and Tulsa game.
Under 8-under 4: Chattanooga leads 64-59. Well, it has finally happened. The Illini can’t get anything going on offense as this game has grinded to a half-court affair. UT-Chattanooga seems to be the fresher team, though the Mocs are not converting much either. Out of the under-8 timeout, Mims posts up Johnson, draws a foul and hits two free throws to cut the game to two. Young later draws a foul and hits one of two free throws. Finally, with 5:24 to go, UT-Chattanooga takes the lead on a beautiful high low from Mims to Colliers. Lon Kruger calls a :20 second timeout. It is the beginning of the end for the Illini, which has hung on as long as it could. Illinois is getting nothing from Kevin Turner this half. The Illini are down to 47% shooting; UT-Chattanooga is at 49%. Out of the 20-second timeout, Turner overdrives and throws the ball out of founds, Taylor responds with a hanging jumper in the lane, just his 10 tenth point, and Gandy misses a jumper. The Mocs are playing a box-and-one on Garris, and Illinois is flummoxed. Young draws the fourth foul on Garris and then hits two free throws. For the first time all game, Chattanooga leads at a television timeout! Illinois hasn’t made a field goal in four minutes.
Under 4-End of Game: Out of the under-four timeout, Turner gets a wide-open three and misses. He recovers with a nice steal on the other end. However, Illinois’ half-court offense is choppy. Guys don’t want the ball on the perimeter, and the Illini are withering when the Mocs apply any ball pressure. Garris, with the ball in front of the Illinois baseline, falls backward in reaction to the program and throws the ball into the backcourt. Young chases it down and feeds Collier for a layup and a 66-59 lead. Kruger calls another timeout, and the Illinois field goal drought is now 7:30. Garris is woefully short on a corner three, and the Illini are one-and done. The Mocs are running offense, salting this game away. Young misses a floater and commits an over-the-back foul, his fifth. He finishes with 15 points, most of which helped keep the Mocs in the game. Heldman, a great free throw shooter, misses the first before making the second. Moore gets caught in the air and throws the ball away to Gee, who throws it right back to Moore. Gandy commits his fifth to stop the clock. Due to foul trouble, Gandy does not score in the second half of what will be his final game. Moore hits one of two free throws, but the Mocs naturally get the offensive board. Raveling and Brando are already giving the Mocs the win with 46 seconds left, and you can’t blame them. Taylor hits both free throws, and the lead is eight. Turner misses to make the field goal drought eight minutes long. Notree fouls out in what will be his last game as an Illini (Kruger will ask him to leave the program after the season). Moore hits both free throws. Illinois finally hits a jumper on a Heldman three with 15 seconds left. The Illini call a timeout, down 71-63. The game is over. Heldman commits a foul, Moore hits two free throws. Garris is pulled to a standing ovation in his final game. Illinois turns it over, and the Mocs get an alley-oop jam. The final score is 75-6 3.
Post-Mortem: After McCarthy’s technical, the Mocs outscored the Illini 34-18. This game boiled down to several things, too much foul trouble for the Illini, which were not big enough on the front line to begin with, and a classic Illinois scoring drought, which I have seen too many times in tournaments past. Illinois couldn’t get any rhythm in the second half. The Mocs chipped and chipped away, and when finally taking the lead, that was all folks. Overall, this was an Illinois team that overachieved all year long and whose sum was greater than the individual parts. Quite honestly, the Mocs were the more athletic team, an indictment of Lou Henson’s last few years at Illinois. It is amazing to look back and realize that Illinois led this game at 8 of the 10 television timeouts. The Illini ran out of gas, which was a shame, as this bracket was shaping up quite nicely. With #2 Duke and #3 Georgia out, the #6-seeded Illini would have faced #10 Providence in the Sweet Sixteen. An Elite Eight run could have been possible, but it was not to be.
Player of the Game: Mims had 12 points and 10 rebounds, stats that don’t look spectacular. However, with his brute strength, he applied a lot of pressure on the Illini on the interior throughout the game. Amazingly, Taylor had just 12 points as Illinois did a good job on the star. Young would lead the team with 15 points. So it wasn’t like anyone went crazy and shot the Illini out of the tournament.
Missing in Action: Turner, one of the more underrated Illini players of the last 20 years, had a quiet night, scoring just 4 points on 2-of-8 shooting. All four of his points came in the first half. With Gandy unable to play in the second half due to foul trouble, Illinois needed someone to step up. Garris certainly did for stretches, though having an inefficient shooting game, and frankly, Turner was the Illini next in line most capable of doing so.
Turning Point of the Game: McCarthy’s technical just before the under-16 timeout in the second half got the crowd involved, focused his team and put more pressure on the officials, who had tight whistles in the game’s last 20 minutes.
The Dagger: Garris’ turnover while falling out of bounds was the perfect symbol how everything came crashing down for the Illini in the second half.
The Aftermath: For UT-Chattanooga, the Mocs would lose by six points during a tight game against Providence in the Sweet Sixteen. After the tourney, McCarthy would leave to be head coach at VCU, and Taylor would be drafted #17 overall in the first round of the God-awful 1997 NBA Draft. Taylor would play parts of three seasons in the NBA.
Following Kruger’s first season, the Illini were not expected to do much in 1997-1998, especially with Garris and Gandy graduated and Notree basically being dismissed from the program. As was the case under Kruger, the Illini would surprise again with a senior-lineup led by Turner, Heldman, Johnson, Gee and Jerry Hester, who redshirted in 1997. The Illini would be co-champions of the Big Ten, and earn a #5 seed in the 1998 NCAA Tournament. The Illini would lose another tight second-round game, this time to #4 seed Maryland. Despite this disappointment, it was quite clear that Kruger was turning around the Illini quickly, setting the stage for a great 10 years of Illinois hoops.
Postscript: Apparently, Illinois and Chattanooga played this past season. For the first time in forever, I did not watch any Illini games last year as I have been thoroughly unimpressed with the direction of the program lately. With that said, I do remember reading that Illinois lost this early-season home game and getting the feeling that it was going to be another lost season.
Here are some highlights (make that lowlights) of that game.
20:00 – under 16: Illinois leads 9-8. Foreshadowing is the name of the game here as the two Mocs who will end up killing Illinois all day, big man Chris Mims and guard Willie Young score the first four points for UT-Chattanooga. Illinois’ Kevin Turner hits the team’s first shot and then follows with a miss on what will be a tough shooting night. UT-Chattanooga jumps out to an 8-3 lead on a Wes Moore three before Illinois hits back-to-back threes from Chris Gandy and Kiwane Garris. UT-Chattanooga star Johnny Taylor is scoreless thus far, missing two open jumpers and two free throws.
Under 16-under 12: Illinois leads 14-13. Raveling makes a good point as the tempo of the game is starting to become a half-court grinder, which favors Illinois. The defense for both teams is picking up, but Illinois is extending possessions with three offensive rebounds, which lead to five points on a Matt Heldman three and a Victor Chukwudebe layup. Young is keeping the Mocs in the game with his ability to shoot over his defender. Young hits a jumper over the smaller Heldman and then uses a nice pump fake to get by and into the body of Brian Johnson for a crafty three-point play.
Under 12-under 8: Illinois leads 25-22. This is a great offensive stretch for the Illini as Gandy gets cooking, scoring 7 points. The Illini is doing a great job getting into the middle of the Mocs’ zone, specifically at the free throw line for mid-range jumpers, as seen on a Jerry Gee make, and high-low opportunities. Bryant Notree scores on nice pass off a curl from Garris and later misses a reverse layup on a beautiful high-low feed from Gandy. Hanging in the game, UT-Chattanooga is more brutish on offense, and the game plan is clear: post up Illinois’ smaller guards. Guard Isaac Conner scores on a nice post up out of the timeout but then chucks up some shots, getting swatted on a drive by Gandy and missing a forced three. Taylor is getting swarmed by the Illini defense whenever catching the ball in the lane, but finally scores on an Illini mistake. Trying to steal minutes, Kruger inserts the rarely-used, undersized guard Jelani Boline, who gets a rebound but dribbles too quickly with the ball, crashing into a teammate and turning it over. Taylor is there to pick up the remains and get a two-hand slam. Just before the timeout, Gandy picks up a suspect over-the-back call. That’s his second foul, and an omen of bad things to come for the Illini big men.
Under 8-under 4: Illinois leads 30-27. Saddled by fouls and an undersized front line, Illinois is starting to break down on the interior defensively, and the offense is becoming too one-on-one. UT-Chattanooga is the more physical team on the blocks, and Illinois has to overcompensate by gang rebounding, which will tire them out. The Mocs tie the game at 25 on three free throws. UT-Chattanooga is in the bonus. Illinois ends a 3:18 scoring drought as Garris gets out of some hero ball with a nice dish to Chukwudebe for an and-one. Turner overpenetrates but kicks out to Gandy, who hits a bail out three. Taylor has made his second field goal, on a silky-smooth, hanging jumper over Heldman at the top of the key. The Mocs are not a normal Southern Conference team. They look to be the stronger and more athletic team whereas Illinois is limited and must rely on teamwork and guile.
Under 4-Halftime: Illinois leads 34-33. Illinois does a nice job of regaining control of the game up until the final minute of the half. The Illini are back to patient offense, utilizing the pass to get into the middle of the zone. Chukwudebe is having an unlikely first half, hitting a nice turn-around for his sixth point of the game, and a Turner drive and pull-up gives the Illini its biggest lead of the game at 34-28 with a minute to go. UT-Chattanooga goes back inside to backup big Marquise Collier, who is bigger than anyone on Illinois’ front line. Heldman has a brain fart, forcing a quick shot, and Conner hits a three with under five seconds to go. Just like that, the game is back to one point.
Halftime Review: Illinois shot 52% from the field, and UT-Chattanooga 50%. The biggest lead was 6 for Illinois. UT-Chattanooga’s biggest lead was three. Foul trouble is a concern for Illinois, with Gandy and Notree with 2 apiece. UT-Chattanooga did what an underdog had to do, hanging around while establishing its physicality down low.
First Half Stars: Gandy has 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting, and is an amazing 15-of-20 from the field thus far in the tournament. Mims has 4 points and 6 rebounds, stats that don’t jump out but fail to show how the Mocs have a superior advantage on the interior.
Second Half
20:00-under 16: Illinois leads 47-41. The whistles are getting tight, and the fouls are picking up. The refs have called 8 fouls in the first four minutes. Illinois is the victim of the first three fouls, with Gee and Gandy picking up some ticky-tack, touch fouls. Both have three fouls and are out of the game. A double foul is later called on Garris and Conner after a physical confrontation in front of the Illinois bench. UT-Chattanooga is then whistled for several more fouls, including a controversial one off-the-ball after a Heldman spinning layup, allowing the Illini to retain possession. Illinois immediately posts up Garris, who goes to work and banks in a shot for a 45-41 lead. After a UT-Chattanooga miss and blocking call on Young, Mack McCarthy has had enough and gets a technical foul. Garris hits two free throws, and Illinois has tied its biggest lead of the game. After scoring just 4 points in the first half, Garris has come out rolling, scoring 9 points, including 5 straight for the Illini on beautiful curls off of effective baseline screens. Heldman has added four crafty points. The Charlotte Coliseum is getting ornery, and the fans are starting to get behind the Mocs based on the last couple of fouls. Taylor is off to a good start, making a beautiful touch pass off a post feed to Moore for a three, drawing several fouls on Gee and Gandy, and then hitting a mid-range jumper in the lane after a sagging Gandy picked up his third. The game was tied at 41 after Young nailed a transition three at the top of the key as no one on Illinois picked him up following a missed 3-on-2 opportunity. After Illinois’ 6-0 run, this clearly is going to be a testy second half.
Under 16-under 12: Illinois leads 52-49. The tide has shifted dramatically as the Mocs are the more intense team. McCarthy’s technical has gotten them fired up. Both teams are in the bonus, and Illinois actually gets its biggest lead of the game, 52-45, on two Brian Johnson free throws. However, the game turns at this point. UT-Chattanooga gets four offensive boards on the next four possessions, and draws four Illinois fouls, including Gandy’s fourth. UT-Chattanooga has left points at the free throw line, but Illinois is in deep foul trouble due to its undersized front line. After hitting a tough baseline floater, Young picked up his fourth. Taylor is stepping up for the Mocs, as is Mims, who gets a big and-one off a missed jumper. The leftover Providence and Duke fans have joined the UT-Chattanooga fans, and are rooting hard for the Mocs. The Bronx cheers are coming out after Illinois is whistled for fouls. Despite committing only 5 turnovers, and having a 17 to 1 advantage off points off turnovers, Illinois is only up three. This does not bode well. How long can the Illini hang on?
Under 12-under 8: Illinois leads 59-55. The Illini have not made a field goal in a long time, but are holding on at the free throw line. UT-Chattanooga actually took a 53-52 lead on beautiful baseline spin, leading to an and one, but the Mocs haven’t been able to capitalize on the momentum. Illinois is treading water, thanks to Brian Johnson, who drew two charges, made a steal and hit two free throws. Garris has all of the other Illini points from the line. There is not much movement to the Illinois offense though, and this game is stuck in the mud on both ends. Out of the timeout, Gee immediately misses a post-up, and compounds that with his fourth foul, 90 feet away from the basket. Chukwudebe also has picked up his fourth foul. It feels like UT-Chattanooga should be winning at this point. CBS does a Live-Look In of the end of the Clemson and Tulsa game.
Under 8-under 4: Chattanooga leads 64-59. Well, it has finally happened. The Illini can’t get anything going on offense as this game has grinded to a half-court affair. UT-Chattanooga seems to be the fresher team, though the Mocs are not converting much either. Out of the under-8 timeout, Mims posts up Johnson, draws a foul and hits two free throws to cut the game to two. Young later draws a foul and hits one of two free throws. Finally, with 5:24 to go, UT-Chattanooga takes the lead on a beautiful high low from Mims to Colliers. Lon Kruger calls a :20 second timeout. It is the beginning of the end for the Illini, which has hung on as long as it could. Illinois is getting nothing from Kevin Turner this half. The Illini are down to 47% shooting; UT-Chattanooga is at 49%. Out of the 20-second timeout, Turner overdrives and throws the ball out of founds, Taylor responds with a hanging jumper in the lane, just his 10 tenth point, and Gandy misses a jumper. The Mocs are playing a box-and-one on Garris, and Illinois is flummoxed. Young draws the fourth foul on Garris and then hits two free throws. For the first time all game, Chattanooga leads at a television timeout! Illinois hasn’t made a field goal in four minutes.
Under 4-End of Game: Out of the under-four timeout, Turner gets a wide-open three and misses. He recovers with a nice steal on the other end. However, Illinois’ half-court offense is choppy. Guys don’t want the ball on the perimeter, and the Illini are withering when the Mocs apply any ball pressure. Garris, with the ball in front of the Illinois baseline, falls backward in reaction to the program and throws the ball into the backcourt. Young chases it down and feeds Collier for a layup and a 66-59 lead. Kruger calls another timeout, and the Illinois field goal drought is now 7:30. Garris is woefully short on a corner three, and the Illini are one-and done. The Mocs are running offense, salting this game away. Young misses a floater and commits an over-the-back foul, his fifth. He finishes with 15 points, most of which helped keep the Mocs in the game. Heldman, a great free throw shooter, misses the first before making the second. Moore gets caught in the air and throws the ball away to Gee, who throws it right back to Moore. Gandy commits his fifth to stop the clock. Due to foul trouble, Gandy does not score in the second half of what will be his final game. Moore hits one of two free throws, but the Mocs naturally get the offensive board. Raveling and Brando are already giving the Mocs the win with 46 seconds left, and you can’t blame them. Taylor hits both free throws, and the lead is eight. Turner misses to make the field goal drought eight minutes long. Notree fouls out in what will be his last game as an Illini (Kruger will ask him to leave the program after the season). Moore hits both free throws. Illinois finally hits a jumper on a Heldman three with 15 seconds left. The Illini call a timeout, down 71-63. The game is over. Heldman commits a foul, Moore hits two free throws. Garris is pulled to a standing ovation in his final game. Illinois turns it over, and the Mocs get an alley-oop jam. The final score is 75-6 3.
Post-Mortem: After McCarthy’s technical, the Mocs outscored the Illini 34-18. This game boiled down to several things, too much foul trouble for the Illini, which were not big enough on the front line to begin with, and a classic Illinois scoring drought, which I have seen too many times in tournaments past. Illinois couldn’t get any rhythm in the second half. The Mocs chipped and chipped away, and when finally taking the lead, that was all folks. Overall, this was an Illinois team that overachieved all year long and whose sum was greater than the individual parts. Quite honestly, the Mocs were the more athletic team, an indictment of Lou Henson’s last few years at Illinois. It is amazing to look back and realize that Illinois led this game at 8 of the 10 television timeouts. The Illini ran out of gas, which was a shame, as this bracket was shaping up quite nicely. With #2 Duke and #3 Georgia out, the #6-seeded Illini would have faced #10 Providence in the Sweet Sixteen. An Elite Eight run could have been possible, but it was not to be.
Player of the Game: Mims had 12 points and 10 rebounds, stats that don’t look spectacular. However, with his brute strength, he applied a lot of pressure on the Illini on the interior throughout the game. Amazingly, Taylor had just 12 points as Illinois did a good job on the star. Young would lead the team with 15 points. So it wasn’t like anyone went crazy and shot the Illini out of the tournament.
Missing in Action: Turner, one of the more underrated Illini players of the last 20 years, had a quiet night, scoring just 4 points on 2-of-8 shooting. All four of his points came in the first half. With Gandy unable to play in the second half due to foul trouble, Illinois needed someone to step up. Garris certainly did for stretches, though having an inefficient shooting game, and frankly, Turner was the Illini next in line most capable of doing so.
Turning Point of the Game: McCarthy’s technical just before the under-16 timeout in the second half got the crowd involved, focused his team and put more pressure on the officials, who had tight whistles in the game’s last 20 minutes.
The Dagger: Garris’ turnover while falling out of bounds was the perfect symbol how everything came crashing down for the Illini in the second half.
The Aftermath: For UT-Chattanooga, the Mocs would lose by six points during a tight game against Providence in the Sweet Sixteen. After the tourney, McCarthy would leave to be head coach at VCU, and Taylor would be drafted #17 overall in the first round of the God-awful 1997 NBA Draft. Taylor would play parts of three seasons in the NBA.
Following Kruger’s first season, the Illini were not expected to do much in 1997-1998, especially with Garris and Gandy graduated and Notree basically being dismissed from the program. As was the case under Kruger, the Illini would surprise again with a senior-lineup led by Turner, Heldman, Johnson, Gee and Jerry Hester, who redshirted in 1997. The Illini would be co-champions of the Big Ten, and earn a #5 seed in the 1998 NCAA Tournament. The Illini would lose another tight second-round game, this time to #4 seed Maryland. Despite this disappointment, it was quite clear that Kruger was turning around the Illini quickly, setting the stage for a great 10 years of Illinois hoops.
Postscript: Apparently, Illinois and Chattanooga played this past season. For the first time in forever, I did not watch any Illini games last year as I have been thoroughly unimpressed with the direction of the program lately. With that said, I do remember reading that Illinois lost this early-season home game and getting the feeling that it was going to be another lost season.
Here are some highlights (make that lowlights) of that game.
RSS Feed