Illinois wins their first game in Italy

[tornado]

Illini scoring totals -- Sammy had a really good game...
from tweets I have seen the Illini wouldn't have even been in this game without Sammy

Brandon Paul 18, 3 rebs
Sam Maniscalco 14, and 4 rebs
Tyler Griffey 13, 4 rebs
Tracy Abrams 9, 5 rebs
Meyers Leonard 7, 3 rebs
Joe Bertrand 6, 4 rebs
Crandall Head 6, 4 rebs
Nnanna Egwu 5, 5 rebs
Mike Shaw 4, 4 rebs
Mychal Henry 2
Djimde 0 pts, 2 rebs
DJ Richardson - scoreless with 1 rebound

[MacabreMob]

New Zealand misses a shot with a few seconds left then gets an offensive rebound and putback for the winner in OT,
85-84....tough loss for Illini

hopefully some stats shortly.........

How do you give up an offensive rebound, especially in the final seconds??? That just NEVER happens. You CAN'T let that happen! What's wrong with the coach?!? Fundamentals!

[tornado]

they miss Marcus Arnold

[Future Walk-On]

How do you give up an offensive rebound, especially in the final seconds??? That just NEVER happens. You CAN'T let that happen! What's wrong with the coach?!? Fundamentals!

This ALWAYS happens to Illinois. That better be the last of it.... PSU did it 2 times in 3 years, among others...

Mainly just losing every close game is Illinois' problem.

[MacabreMob]

This ALWAYS happens to Illinois.

Not always.

Maybe more often in the last couple years... but (prior to the last couple years) I recall them winning a lot (if not most or all) of their close games.... seeming to always (luckily) escape.

But my shot was fired more at the complaint of giving up an offensive rebound especially so late in the game. Maybe people don't recall the outcry of Bradley doing this. Then again... some of them don't/can't post here anymore.

And boy... it's a good thing UIUC doesn't have Wessler covering this game.

[basketball nut]

What is happening w/ DJ. Is it that BW knows what he can do or has he fallen down the depth chart?

Sammy continues to prove he can play @ a higher level-great job Sammy

[tornado]

could be nursing an injury -- but regardless - playing the best pro and international teams in several exhibitions is the best thing even if they lose..
I have always wondered why a team would travel all the way to Canada or Europe then beat a hapless team of unskilled players 112-39 or 104-53


Sammy's stat line very well could argue he was Player of the Game -- 5-8, 1-2 from 3-pt, 14 pts behind only Brandon Paul who took 13 shot attempts plus 13 FT attempts
to score his 18 pts), 4 rebs (only one less than team leader), 2 asst, only 1 TO in team-leading 26 minutes of play.

http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2011-12/misc_non_event/Illinois-NewZealand_Box.pdf

one player on the New Zealand National team is Kirk Penney who used to play at Wisconsin

[tornado]

Illinois getting ready to play West Virginia in exhibition game at Aviano Air Base in Italy...

Like the Illini - Bob Huggins' West Virginia Mountaineer have a lot (eight) of new players this year...and lack experience.....should be interesting......

[tornado]

Both teams, Illinois & West Virginia had short warm up scrimmages against the squad comprised of air base personnel....
Illinois won their warm-up scrimmage 26-12, WVU won theirs 25-7..
Now Illinois & WVU are about to play each other...

[Nacho]

There is an ISU fan stationed in Italy that is at the game and has a few updates from the game...

http://www.redbirdfan.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1862

West Virginia looks like the base team and they are at the Illini clinic. Right now 20-5. Illinois all over WV.

30-8 halftime (10 min halves). WV has no game plan and cannot stop Leonard, Richardson, or Paul. Hell, they can't stop Sam or Bertrand either. Bertrand is a very nice player, this is just a scrimmage but he is pretty dangerous. Weber has these guys pumped, diving for balls and just flat out husslin'. They actually look pretty oiled for summer ball. Illinois fans may have an exciting product on the floor this year.

[tornado]

Illinois jumped out to a 27-8 lead early on West Virginia then cruised to a 47-26 win over Bob Huggins' West Virginia Mountaineers in two 10-minute halves...

This is pretty impressive for the Illini beating a decent Big East squad this soundly!

Unofficial scoring...
DJ Richardson 11
Henry 7
Maniscalco 6
Griffey 4
Egwu 4
Leonard 4
Paul 3
Bertrand 2
Head 2
Abrams 2
Shaw 2

[tornado]

full box score for Illini - Sammy 4 assists and no turnovers in 10 minutes-

http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2011-12/misc_non_event/Illinois-WestVirginia_Box.pdf

If you read the West Virginia side of the story -- they don't really think they lost...
"WVU and Illinois then played two 10-minute halves. At the end of 20 minutes, Illinois held a 47-26 lead.."

http://www.msnsportsnet.com/blogs.cfm?blog=mbbBlog&useDate=08/17/11#19054

BTW -- here are some video highlights from the WVU website - mostly the Mountaineer baskets that went in...
but 30 seconds into this video is Sammy playing incredibly tough defense and forcing his man to give up the ball.

http://www.msnsportsnet.com/mediaplayer.cfm?streamid=766

[tornado]

One of the seven players who scored for West Virginia on their Euro tour is a freshman named Tommy McCune...
(they have 12 players travelling with them but only 7 players were in the box score)
(McCune is #23 in the video above and he hits the final basket on the video)

But a few weeks before going to Europe, Tommy McCune was arrested for shoplifting & "stealing merchandise from a Walmart".

The kid actually has his court hearing listed for today...but obviously won't be there because he's in Italy having a great time playing basketball!

http://www.wvmetronews.com/wvu.cfm?func=displayfullstory&storyid=47228