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Enjoy from my personal collection of NCAA Tournament games. Oh what a great night this was watching Illinois defeat Kansas during the Sweet Sixteen of the 2001 NCAA Tournament. My buddy Rich and I went to Murphy's on Green Street to watch the festivities. While you only had to be 19 years old to get into the bars, I did not have a fake ID. Rich did, however, and we were introduced to Long Island Ice Teas on this night as Frank Williams dominated the Jayhawks. I'll never forget Kansas getting out to a 4-0 lead as Drew Gooden hit back-to-back buckets in the post to start the game. Surprisingly, I was not all that worried as Illinois quickly got back into the game. I remember starting an And-One and air ball chant at the bar as Williams scored on a fastbreak layup and some Jayhawk put up a shot that caught air. With Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On" playing in the background of Murphy's immediately after the victory, I couldn't believe Illinois was just one game away from the Final Four, with Arizona waiting in the Elite Eight. As celebratory Rich and I were on this night, we would have our game faces for the Elite Eight game, choosing to order Chinese food and watch from my dorm room.
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