Wildcats battle Illini for fourth time in 12 months

Associated Press

Illinois junior point guard Frank Williams drives to the basket Nov. 7 against the Illinois All-Stars in Champaign, Ill. Williams leads his team against Arizona tonight in the teams' fourth game in 12 months.

Illinois head coach Bill Self has done his best to avoid thinking about the last time his team faced Arizona. But with their game coming up tonight, he couldn't avoid it any longer.

"It wasn't a pleasant memory," Self said. "I watched the game on film for the first time (Sunday) night. They just beat us last year."

After playing three memorable games last season - the last of which ended Illinois' season in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament - Self and the No. 5 Fighting Illini face off for the first time this season against the No. 7 Wildcats tonight at 6 in America West Arena in Phoenix.

Both teams come into this game fresh off losses to top-10 opponents. The Wildcats (3-1) lost to No. 4 Kansas Saturday, while Illinois (6-1) lost to No. 3 Maryland Nov. 27 in the Big 10/ACC Challenge before blowing out Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Saturday.

While both teams have lost key players since last year, both Arizona and Illinois remember the hard-fought battles from last season.

Self said it was the physical nature of the games - especially the last one - that contributed to the rivalry between the two top teams.

"Last year when we played Arizona, it wasn't a fast game, but both teams scored over 80 points because there were so many foul shots," Self said.

That same level of intensity might not be present because of personnel changes on both sides. Illinois lost aggressive forwards Sergio McClain and Marcus Griffin to graduation and, earlier this year, saw the emotional leader of the team, forward Lucas Johnson, tear his ACL, an injury that will likely hold him out of the lineup until January.

KEVIN KLAUS/Arizona Daily Wildcat

UA sophomore center Channing Frye rises for a shot against Kansas post Nick Collison. The Wildcats lost 105-97 Saturday, but look to bounce back against their fifth top-25 opponent of the season against Illinois tonight in McKale Center.

"(Emotional play) was our trademark last year," Self said. "We were going to be in attack mode all the time. We've got some young guys. It is out of character for some of our guys to take on that role."

UA head coach Lute Olson also said he expects this season's game to play out a little differently. The loss of center Loren Woods to graduation, and the early departures of Gilbert Arenas, Richard Jefferson and Michael Wright have taken away the defensive presence that made Arizona the defensive team it was last season.

"It has been a real challenge," Olson said. "We don't defend well being this young. Getting (the freshmen) to sustain defensive effort has been a challenge."

While many of the familiar faces from last season's teams may be absent, Self said he didn't think the Illini would be lacking in motivation to pull out a win against the Wildcats.

"Based on those three games (last season), I would think that our guys will remember and use that as motivation to have a chance to say 'we got the ones that got us,'" Self said.

In the Illini, the Wildcats find a team with a strength similar to their own. In guards Frank Williams and Corey Bradford, Illinois fields two athletic guards that can take over the game. With Sean Harrington coming off the bench, the Illini can field a three-guard lineup that can both cut to the basket and shoot from the outside.

"We know that Frank Williams is as good as they come," Olson said. "They have great shooting in Bradford and Harrington. They can really drill the thing from outside."

While the All-American candidate Williams has struggled with his stroke so far this season, his 14.9 points-per-game average and 6-foot-3 frame will tax a young Arizona defense. The task of guarding Williams will likely fall to UA freshman guard Salim Stoudamire, who is the team's best match in terms of size and speed.

Illinois will be Arizona's fourth top-10 opponent in its first five games.

Though the team lost a tough game to Kansas Saturday, Olson said he doesn't regret the tough early-season schedule.

"My feelings have been that playing the best non-conference teams that you can play (is good), because if you do, you are going to learn a lot more than playing teams you can beat by 30 points," Olson said.

Olson also said the schedule had the potential to hurt the confidence of his young team but felt the results had been good so far.

"The thing that concerns me as a coach is having that tough of a schedule with a lot of young guys · they lose their confidence," Olson said. "If we didn't get an occasional win, it could backfire on us, but to this point it has been good. Every game has been a tough game that we have learned from."