Highlights | Press Conference | Last 4 Minutes of Game
PITTSBURGH, Pa. -- Illinois' season looked to be in the books in the first round of March Madness on Friday night at PPG Paints Arena. No. 13-seed Chattanooga challenged the Illini all night, holding the lead through the first 39 minutes of the game. But after clawing back, the Illini locked in on defense and stepped up at the free throw line. With under a minute to go, Kofi Cockburn secured a missed free throw and made the putback, giving Illinois its first lead of the night, 52-51.
But, Malachi Smith was fouled on the other end and made both free throws, regaining the one-point lead with 30 seconds to play. Alfonso Plummer was fouled on the ensuing possession and drained both free throws, putting the Illini in position to get a stop to seal the win. Coleman Hawkins delivered, blocking Smith's shot then forcing another miss as time expired, giving Illinois the 54-53 victory.
"Survive and advance, 'that's pretty much the theme of that game. Lot of credit to Lamont (Harris) and his team, they didn't win 27 games for no reason. They're very good. I thought no doubt who threw the first punch, or the first three punches, was them. They knocked us right in the mouth the first six minutes of the game and took it to us, kicked our butt ... Once we get through that was settled in, turned that 12-point deficit into at least a working margin."
Plummer was instrumental in Illinois' late-game success, scoring 13 of the Illini's 25 points in the second half. Cockburn led the Illini with 17 points and 13 rebounds, including five on the offensive end. Illinois' defense held Chattanooga's Smith to 12 points on 4-of-20 shooting and the Mocs to 32.3% as a team.
After winning the opening tip, Chattanooga went on to control the majority of the first half. Smith, the Mocs' leading scorer, opened the game with a layup. Kofi Cockburn was fouled on Illinois' second possession and split a pair of free throws at the line. Hawkins and Silvio De Sousa traded putbacks but a three-pointer from Josh Ayeni sparked a big run for the Mocs.
The Illini went the next four and a half minutes without making a shot while Chattanooga went on a 10-0 run. Omar Payne ended the run with a free throw make before Cockburn made a dunk, but the Mocs built up a 16-6 lead with under 12 minutes to go in the half.
Chattanooga kept challenging Illinois as David Jean-Baptiste came up with a steal then led to an Ayeni dunk. Then, Cockburn was called for goaltending and the Illini went another five minutes without scoring a field goal. The Illini defense kept them in the game, forcing a three-minute scoring drought from the Mocs.
Payne ended Illinois' slump with an and-1 layup, but De Sousa countered with a shot in the paint, putting Chattanooga up 22-10.
Andre Curbelo and Coleman Hawkins slowly chipped away at the lead with back-to-back layups followed by a Hawkins dunk. While the Illini got within six points, the Mocs scored five straight points to make it 27-18. After Curbelo split free throws, Cockburn started to heat up, going on a 6-0 run to get the Illini within two points.
The teams traded a few shots, but Smith finished the half with a layup, giving Chattanooga a 33-29 lead at halftime.
Chattanooga came out of the break just as hot, scoring seven straight points to take an 11-point lead. While the Illini held the Mocs scoreless for the next seven minutes, Illinois struggled to stay consistent an offense.
After layups from Hawkins and Da'Monte WIlliams, Illinois went scoreless for over two minutes. Plummer came up big with two treys to get Illinois within one point at the under-12 media timeout.
But, the Mocs wouldn't budge. De Sousa made a layup followed by a Plummer jumper. Then Banks and Smith traded layups with Cockburn before a make by Diggs extended Chattanooga's lead to 48-43. While Plummer nailed another three, Grant Ledford fired back with a deep ball to bring it back to a five-point game.
The Illini stayed close, as Frazier made a pair of free throws then lobbed it to Hawkins for a dunk. Illinois still trailed 51-50 with 1:26 to play and the Mocs called a timeout. But Illinois' defense stayed tough, forcing a turnover which led to Cockburn's putback on the other end.
Illinois advances to the second round of the NCAA Tournament and will play Houston who advanced past UAB with an 82-68 win on Friday night.
"Coleman made a huge defensive play at the end of the game," head coach Brad Underwood said. "And the thing I liked the most was this group stayed connected, stayed together even when things were not going our way. We live to play another day and we'll have to enjoy this one, learn from it and we definitely have to start games better than we started tonight and have a different attitude when the tip comes or we'll be in trouble."
