Illinois upends UWM
Brown, Williams solid as Illini cruise
ROSEMONT, ILL. ? Containing Deron Williams is no easy feat. When backcourt mate Dee Brown is on his game, too, playing Illinois is anything but a fair fight.
Williams and Brown gave upstart Wisconsin-Milwaukee all that it could handle and then some Thursday, combining for 42 points, 10 assists and some pesky defense to lead Illinois to a 77-63 victory and a spot in the Chicago Regional finals.
“They were knocking down shots. They were playing defense,” Roger Powell Jr. said. “That’s what we needed.”
Williams scored 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting and also had eight assists. Brown scored 15 of his 21 from three-point range, was 7-of-12 and had two assists and two steals. Anytime the Illini needed a basket, a pass or a turnover, one — or both — of them was there.
“We had to play our best basketball tonight. We didn’t,” UWM coach Bruce Pearl said. “They had a lot to do with it.”
Illinois shot 53 percent, and all five starters finished in double figures. Powell and Luther Head had 12 each, and James Augustine had a double-double for the third straight game with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
The top-seeded Illini (35-1) will play Arizona on Saturday for a chance to go to their first Final Four since 1989.
Illinois' Roger Powell dunks against Wisconsin-Milwaukee. The Illini won, 77-63, Thursday night in Rosemont, Ill.
“It’s wonderful,” Brown said. “Our main goal was to get to the Final Four and win a national championship. Getting to the Elite Eight is a great accomplishment. We’ve got to just keep playing hard.”
UWM (26-6) was hoping to be the first No. 12 seed to knock off a No. 1. Joah Tucker did his part, scoring a career-high 32 points. But he was essentially a one-man offense. UWM shot 39 percent, and leading scorer Ed McCants was 4-of-17 overall for 13 points.
“They have three, four, maybe five NBA players that are so unselfish,” UMW’s Mark Pancratz said. “Anytime we felt we elevated our game a little bit, they just took it to another level.”
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