Chicago Regional Recap (Day 1 Round 2)

(1) Illinois 71 - (9) Nevada 59
Illinois looked like the old Illini again after Nevada got within 2 late in the first half. Great defense for Illinois today, couple that with 19 assists and only 36% field goal shooting from Nevada and you have an easy Illinois victory. They even out-rebounded a good rebounding Nevada team. The game was not as close as the score indicates. James Augustine (23 points and 10 rebounds) was the man of the game today. Ingram and Augustine had half the points for the Illini today (35 points). It's amazing how many ways the Illini can beat you. Who would have thought that the Illini could look so good with Dee Brown (2 points) not looking so good. The only negative that Illini fans can take away from this game is that Brown has not been playing well the past 4-5 games. He will have to step his game up next week for Illinois to continue advancing.

(12) UW-Milwaukee 83 - (4) Boston College 75
Well I said that UW-Milwaukee had to drain a bunch of 3's to have a chance to win, and they drained 11 more 3's (45% 3-point shooting). The 22 turnovers doomed Boston College, especially #22 late in the game that let UW-Milwaukee control the game for good. 90% shooting from the line made sure that Boston College could not foul their way back into the game late. Give UWM credit, they played another great game. They don't look fancy winning, but they get the job done. Another painful loss for the Big East.

(3) Arizona 85- (11) UAB 63
This was the UAB that everyone expected to see. Arizona was just way too much. Stoudamire was awesome again (28 points). Arizona was too fast, too big and too good defensively for UAB. As I predicted one of the biggest mismatches of the day. It was as expected, a great team vs a mediocre team with the expected result.