Friday, December 31, 2004
14-0!
Illinois dominates the Bearcats in Vegas. In Valley high school in front of ~ 1800 fans Illinois toyed with Cincinnati most of the night before putting the clamps on in a runaway victory. Illini fans outnumber Bearcat fans 8-1. Turns out UNLV wouldn't let them play in their gym because they were invited to play in this one, and since this is college they can't play games in casinos. So the number one team in the land played in a high-school gym not much bigger than my unfinished bonus room.
llinois is off to its best start since 1988-89, when it began 17-0 and reached the Final Four. The Illini have only trailed for 21 minutes, 32 seconds of 560 minutes this season. The last time Illinois trailed was in the first half against Georgetown on Dec. 9.
The Illini held Cincinnati (No. 17 ESPN/USA Today; No. 22 AP) to 28 percent shooting (14-of-50), and the Bearcats didn't help themselves, finishing 13-of-26 from the foul line. Cincinnati had just six assists.
