Frazier Leads Illini to Second Straight Road Win

After being lauded as a defensive stopper, Chester Frazier slipped into the role of offensive hero for a little while Sunday, as Illinois held off Indiana in Bloomington for a 65-52 win.

Illinois streaked to a 21 point lead in the first half, but saw Indiana claw back to within six with just over six minutes remaining. While Illinois' offense slipped into a "road mode" that is easily identifiable by a lot of passing around the perimeter and taking buzzer-beaters against the shot clock, Chester Frazier was gearing up for a run. Frazier hit a huge three to put Illinois up nine, then made a layup with about two minutes left to make it a 12 point Illini advantage.

Frazier finished the game with nine points, seven rebounds and seven assists; not a bad offensive night for a defensive guy. Mike Davis had another double-double with 16 and 10, and Tisdale chipped in with 16 of his own.

Illinois moves to within a game and a half of Michigan State for the conference lead and the Spartans travel to Purdue on Tuesday. The Illini will play host to Penn State Wednesday, a game that looks tougher every time Penn State plays, then travel to Ohio State Sunday.

I know of no one that could have told me with a straight face that Illinois would be 21-5 right now. It has truly been a remarkable season for the Illini and the goal now has to be to build momentum and secure a top four seed for the NCAA tournament.

Illini Shut Down Boilermakers

In a dominating performance fitting from a top 25 team, Illinois used a stifling defense to run away with the game in the second half.

Mike Davis had a great game for Illinois with a double-double made up of 14 points and 16 rebounds. The game was sealed when Illinois went on a 23-6 run late in the second, a stretch in which Purdue made just one field goal. The Boilers were once again without preseason Big Ten POY Robbie Hummel. Why do they even name a preseason POY? And now...guessing!

Anyway, the win keeps Illinois within two games of Michigan State in the Big Ten standings and with three games the Illini should win coming up, they could get even closer to MSU before the two teams meet March 1st.

This is the first real statement game for the Illini since entering the top 25 a few weeks ago. They had some good wins, and some bad losses, but a blowout of Purdue even without Hummel is a very good looking win.

Next up for the Illini is a date at Northwestern Thursday night, followed by another road game at Indiana, and then Penn State at Assembly Hall where the Illini have a ten game winning streak going.

Statement Week For Illinois Basketball

Remember when Illinois lost a record 19 games last season? I don't. Especially after the past 8 days. Even though the team was 10-1 I was skeptical. They hadn't beaten anyone I had heard of, and the one chance they had to play someone decent (Clemson), they lost. It looked like Illinois was going to be a good defensive Big Ten team fighting for that last Big Ten NCAA berth come March.

Well that has all changed in the last week. Two enormous nationally televised wins against Mizzou and Purdue have put the Illini on the national radar. Are the Illini the best team in the Big Ten? Probably not, but they are legitimate contenders. In a conference known for low road winning percentages, Illinois showed a lot of toughness winning in overtime in West Lafayette last night.

This team has the elements to successfully execute Bruce Weber's three guard quasi-motion pick-roll offense. Four players are averaging 12 points and Chester Frazier is finally becoming the pass-first point guard who takes care of the ball that the Illini need. This balanced and efficient offense is the perfect complement to what has been a lights out defensive team. The weaknesses in the backcourt mostly consisted of an inability to score and McCamey's lackadaisical defensive approach. Well both of those problems seem to have evaporated. It also looks like Alex Legion will be a big contributor on both ends of the court as he slowly earns more minutes. Davis and Tisdale, thought to be too inexperienced and soft, have proven that they are anything but. Both look like they will be solid contributors and showed last night that they can defend the paint as well as any of the big boys in the Big Ten.

All that being said, I am getting a little ahead of myself. The Big Ten is no joke, and even though it is not very strong at the top, it is a solid conference and the road will not be easy. Teams like Wisconsin, Michigan State, Michigan, Purdue, and the emergence of Tubby Smith's Gophers will all be tough Ws. Regardless, Illinois has shown it can play tough on the road against the cream of the crop.

A 4 seed? A 5 seed? Maybe that's dreaming, but it is a real possibility. Thank god the Big Ten schedule started, I was getting bored of watching Illinois play Tulane, Hawaii and Eastern Michigan.