CHAMPAIGN, ILL. ? Illness forced Lou Henson to retire from coaching, but it didn’t keep him away from the celebration of a century of basketball at Illinois.

Henson, who coached the Illini for 21 of those 100 seasons, wore his trademark bright orange blazer and sat courtside Saturday as the top-ranked Illini defeated Minnesota, 89-66. He received a standing ovation and the crowd shouted “Lou, Lou, Lou” when he was introduced at halftime.

“This is special,” Henson said during a pregame news conference. “It’s just special to come back and see friends and players, and get to visit with the players.”

Henson has battled cancer, viral encephalitis and pneumonia in the past year, illnesses that kept him from his coaching duties at New Mexico State and led to his retirement Jan. 22. He uses a wheelchair, but was able to stand during halftime and postgame ceremonies.

“I’m telling everybody that in a couple of months I’m going to be walking,” he said.

Henson led the Illini to their last Final Four appearance in 1989 with a team still known as the “Flyin’ Illini.” But he wasn’t about to compare this year’s undefeated squad to that team.

“I don’t know which one would be better, but the ‘Flyin’ Illini’ had a little flair about them,” Henson said. “I’ve never seen a team exactly like that, a small team with really tremendous athletes that could shoot and dunk. They just had a flair about them that everybody just enjoyed a lot.”

Several members of that team, including Kenny Battle, Kendall Gill and Marcus Liberty, also were back for the school’s centennial celebration. More than 300 former players were introduced after the game, including members of the school’s all-century team announced last fall.