Illinois Snaps Road Skid, Tops Minnesota 71-62
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Mike Davis had 17 points and nine rebounds and Demetri McCamey scored 17 points in a surprise role off the bench to lead Illinois to a 71-62 victory over Minnesota on Thursday night.
D.J. Richardson added 11 points for the Illini (16-8, 6-5 Big Ten), who outscored Minnesota 23-2 off the bench to snap a four-game road losing streak.
Trevor Mbakwe had 17 points and 16 rebounds and Ralph Sampson III added 16 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks for the Golden Gophers (16-8, 5-7). Minnesota has lost four straight games, including two at home that have seriously hurt their NCAA tournament resume.
Blake Hoffarber had 15 points, but Minnesota's leading scorer made just 5 of 13 shots and was harassed all night by a determined Illinois defense.
As the clock ticked down, a vocal contingent of Illini fans chanted, "This is our house!"
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In a sloppy game in which the teams combined for 28 turnovers and both hovered around 33 percent shooting for much of it, Davis hit several big shots down the stretch to hold off the Gophers.
Both teams came in desperate for a win. The Gophers were reeling without starting point guard Al Nolen, and the Illini had lost four straight on the road.
Illinois coach Bruce Weber showed just how desperate he was with his starting lineup. McCamey, Mike Tisdale and Jereme Richmond -- three of the team's top four scorers -- began the game on the bench.
An Illini spokesman said the decision was not a punishment or related to injuries. He said Weber was just trying to mix things up to give the struggling Illini a spark.
The biggest surprise was McCamey. He led the team at 14.7 points per game and was seventh in the nation with 6.7 assists. He is a finalist for the Bob Cousy Award, given annually to the nation's top point guard and figured to give the Illini a big mismatch against a Gophers team that lacked a true point guard in Nolen's absence.
But Weber went with sophomore Brandon Paul at point guard and reserves Meyers Leonard and Bill Cole in the starting lineup.
Illinois started the game 1-for-7 from the field and trailed 5-4 when Weber finally put in the regular starters just over 4 1/2 minutes in.
Illinois outscored Minnesota 13-5 over the next 6 minutes to take a nine-point lead.
Mbakwe kept the Gophers in it with a double-double -- 10 points and 10 rebounds -- in the first half. Hoffarber's 3-pointer early in the second half capped a 13-0 run to give Minnesota a 34-30 lead.
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But the deeper Illini, with eight players getting significant minutes, started to wear down the Gophers' starters in the final 7 minutes.
Weber threw three different defenders at Hoffarber, Minnesota's leading scorer, hounding him on the perimeter and forcing the ball out of his hands.
Richardson's 3-pointer from the wing gave Illinois a 61-55 lead with 4:25 to go, and the Gophers managed just six points in the final 6 minutes as they faded away.
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