NU vs. Illinois - Men's Basketball

The National Anthem's been sung, so it's almost game time here at Assembly Hall, where the 6-10 Wildcats are set to take on the 9-11 Illini. The teams are a combined 1-11 in conference. Enough said?

The Illini have won eight straight against the Cats and NU is 0 for its last 12 tries in the conference, since it beat Penn State last Feb. 10.

Pat Houlihan is ready. So is Jean-Marc Melchior. That must mean it's time to play.

Starting lineups - NU: G - 22 Michael Thompson; G - 20 Craig MooreG - 32 Sterling Williams; F - 11 Nikola Baran; F - 44 Kevin Coble
Illinois: G - 1 Trent Meacham; G - 32 Demetri McCamey; C - 54 Mike Tisdale; F - 42 Brian Randle; F - 23 Rodney Alexander (6-10 center Shaun Pruitt isn't starting, but he will play.)

19:45 - The shot clock is off, prompting an official to ask, "Why is the shot clock not on?" They get is squared away to the chant of "Awkward silence" from the fans. A+ effort.

15:44 - 3 of 9 shooting and five turnovers combined for the two teams. It's 5-3 Illini and coach Bill Carmody is not pleased with Nikola Baran, who he just replaced with Jeff Ryan.

14:02 - Shaun Pruitt is in. 10-3 Illlini after a rim-rocking alley oop from Alexander and a 3 from Meacham.

13:04 - And Pruitt doesn't wait long. He puts in a layup underneath to extend the Illini's lead to 12-3 and draw a 30-second timeout from Carmody. Ooh, a Jeremy Nash sighting.

11:58 - The Cats are 2 for 8 with five turnovers. People are dancing. Not much else to say. Illini 12-5. After a recent turnover, Carmody just sat back in his chair and put his hands behind his head. Not much else he can do. Illinois coach Bruce Weber keeps shouting things like "Rodney! Go!"

9:57 - Alexander has more alley oops right now than NU has field goals, leading 3-2. He got one on two consecutive trips down the court, extending Illinois' lead to 18-5 and giving Carmody that old sinking feeling.

8:21 - Another timeout NU, as the run has reached 22-2 in the last 10:46. At this pace, the Cats will score 17 points. Gotta be a record.

7:53 - Media timeout for a change. Still 22-5, with Williams heading to the line. Heard from the student section: "C'mon Bill. Bill, you're better than this." Heard from an usher: "This game's over." I agree with both.

1:51 - NU is showing some life. Pruitt celebrates by tackling Craig Moore after NU gets a steal. The Illini lead 28-16, but NU is on a 11-4 run in the last 5:34. Or I should say Williams and Thompson are on a 11-4 run. The two guards have all but two of NU's points tonight.

Halftime - It's 31-18 Illinois, and it could have been a lot worse. The Cats actually ended the half on a 13-7 run in the last 7:25. It's not big, but it's something.

Ryan, Williams, Thompson and Nash have combined for all of the Cats' scoring on 7-of-12 shooting. The rest of the team? Zero. Of eight. Craig Moore, who looked to be getting back on track against Michigan State is 0 of 5 from the field, all 3-point attempts. Coble has only taken two shots, but he did have an impressive rebound.

The only bright side for NU is, like Michigan, Illinois is really bad. So NU could, like against Michigan, put together a little run in the second half and be back in the game. And the Cats will in all likelihood come up short. Like against Michigan. The fans miss Chief Illiniweek. Carmody misses Tim Doyle ... and Vedran Vukusic ... and Mohamed Hachad ... and probably Evan Eschmeyer ...

16:50 - Timeout NU after Meacham hits a 3-pointer and a long two in a row to extend Illinois' lead to 36-20. NU leads Illinois in free throws made. Now it just needs to wait for a dystopian future in which the NCAA outlaws points off of field goals.

15:46 - First media timeout of the second half and a McCamey 3 has Illinois' lead at 39-20. This game has the feeling of a slow, yet insistent, suffocation.

11:11 - The Illini are in the midst of a monster run. Ever since NU closed the lead to 31-20 at the beginning of the half, Illinois has outscored the Cats 19-5. And then they brought in Michael Jordan's son, Jeff. Carmody brought in Mike Capocci to counter.

7:06 - Oi. As in Illin ... s. Worked better in my head. Anyway, the Illini have extended that run to 27-8 and have a 58-28 lead over the Cats. Jeff Jordan, the "Air Apparent" (I must be delirious), put in four points in five minutes and got a UGE ovation when he went out. He also tried to take off from the right wing and dunk over Sterling Williams, but he had to settle for free throws instead. I thought I saw the hint of a tongue coming out of his mouth. Two free throws from Calvin Brock makes it 60-28 Illini.

2:39 - Last media timeout, so it won't be long now. Illinois leads 67-36. And NU is bringing in Pat Houlihan, Ivan Peljusic and Jean-Marc Melchior, who have played a TOTAL of 99 minutes this year. That's slightly longer than "Half Baked," but can't even touch "There Will Be Blood."

1:19 - And here's Tonjua Jones. All that's left is for Matt Steger to come in. Is Evan Seacat still around?

Game Over - Illinois 70, NU 37. Had some laughs, had some tears. Had a lot of turnovers. NU is now 0-7 in conference. Night. Ya'll come back now, hear?