LAS VEGAS -- There was much more to the anatomy Illinois' 60-58 loss to Utah Friday than what happened in the final seconds.
Now, instead of playing Oklahoma State for a championship, the Illini will get a Bradley team that will be fired up to play its in-state rivals on a neutral floor.
The Illini blew and 16-point halftime lead and were tied at 58 when junior guard Demetri McCamey took the game-winning shot. He missed and there was still enough time left on the clock for Utah's Jay Watkins to throw an outlet pass to Shawn Glover, who hit a running shot as time expired. Glover's shot held up after the officials viewed the replay.
But Illinois would have never been in the position to lose the game had it not relinquished its large lead. Six inopportune second-half turnovers, poor shooting from Illinois, and some poor defense in the second half combined to form the losing formula for the Illini.
In the first half, the Illini shut down Utah to the tune of 7-for-29 shooting, 0-for-9 from 3-point range. In the second half, a different Utah team took the floor and shot an outstanding 16-for-23. Of course, it helped that the Illini were allowing some dribble penetration from Utah. Guard Luka Drka scored 14 points in the second half.
Meanwhile, it was the Illini who went cold. For the game, Brandon Paul, D.J. Richardson and Mike Davis combined to shoot an underwhelming 3-for-18. Almost all of the Illini's offense came from McCamey (7-for-15, 19 points) and Mike Tisdale (8-for-10, 18 points).
"We didn't go to Tisdale enough," Weber said after the game.
It was also a bad time for Davis, Paul and Richardson to have that kind of a night, given the presence of some NBA scouts at the Invitational.
Photo: Utah celebrates Shawn Glover's game-winner. (AP / Laura Rauch)
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