Sunday, March 27, 2005


Yahoo! News - Illinois Roars Back to Catch Arizona in OT
I am not a basketball fan. But it's games like this that make me tune in to "March Madness". I was falling asleep as these guys caught fire and stormed back...wow.

ROSEMONT, Ill. - Keep the bus running and point it toward St. Louis. Thanks to a jaw-dropping comeback, Illinois' journey has another leg left: the Final Four. With Deron Williams leading the way, the Illini staged an electrifying and improbable rally to force overtime and then held on to beat Arizona 90-89 Saturday night to win the Chicago Regional.

Trailing 75-60 with four minutes left, Illinois showed why it was No. 1 most of the season.

Williams tied this game and capped a stunning 20-5 run by hitting a 3-pointer with 38 seconds left in regulation, making it 80-80.

Arizona (30-7) went up by 15 points with four minutes to go after an 18-6 spurt that momentarily silenced a large, orange-clad partisan crowd.

But the Illini didn't play as if it was over. And it wasn't.

Illinois, whose previous largest deficit this season was nine — in another victory — made a final run. It was a great one, and the crowd went wild.

Luther Head hit a 3-pointer, Brown made a basket in the lane, Head scored after a steal, Williams drove for a basket and then made a steal and fed Brown for another basket with 45 seconds left.

After Jack Ingram deflected an inbounds pass, Williams hit a 3-pointer to tie it with 38 seconds to go.

Team to beat. Damn they are good. MSU up today- go Spartans!