Orange Krushed: Illinois holds off Iowa in almost-neutral setting

IOWA CITY - One week after unveling the Orange Bowl Trophy to thunderous applause, Iowa was rolled in a sea of orange.

Illinois outlasted the Hawkeyes 57-49 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena last night with help from a boisterous student section. The Orange Krush, as they're known, traveled from Champaign and around 150 Illinois fans camped out under Iowa's west basket. They used fake Iowa addresses to buy the tickets in bulk. They also kept the arena at a fever pitch with a mixed assortment of cheers.

“We had a lot of Orange Krush there,” said Illinois guard Demetri McCamey, who led all scorers with 15 points. “We wasn't frightened about the Iowa crowd. We probably had just as amount as fans as them. It just felt like a home game.”

Iowa players and coaches were more subdued about the turnout, which comprised about one-fourth of the total announced crowd of 11,441. The Orange Krush neutralized Iowa's home-court advantage.

“Did they pay?” Iowa Coach Todd Lickliter asked. “OK, Good. They obviously traveled well. Those seats are empty, so they filled them.”

“I thought it was pretty impressive,” Iowa sophomore Matt Gatens said.

Illinois (15-8, 7-3 Big Ten) built a 11-point lead with 15 minutes, 56 seconds left in the game. But both teams went through massive scoring droughts lasting more than 6 minutes apiece until Iowa started trimming Illinois' lead.

Trailing by eight points, Iowa (8-15, 2-8) scored on two straight possessions to cut Illinois' lead to three points. Cully Payne hit a 3-pointer, and Jarryd Cole scored on a pair of free throws to come within 50-47 with 3:20 left in the game. After Illinois' Mike Davis hit a jumper, Iowa's Aaron Fuller scored on two free throws two possessions later to stay within three points at 52-49.

Iowa had the ball at the same score with 58 seconds left but couldn't close the gap. Payne, who played 34 minutes with pneumonia, drove to the basket but missed a layup that would have cut Illinois' lead to one point. Illinois got the rebound and sank five of six free throws to seal the game.

“I think Cully's drives to the hoop, he needs to make those,” Lickliter said. “He's at the rim, he's going to shoot them. If you're at the rim, if you're going to shoot them, you've got to make them.

“In fairness to him, we couldn't make outside shots. So he probably felt like he had to get to the rim.”

Despite the loss, Lickliter was pleased with effort, especially the way the team rebounded from a porous 14-point loss at Michigan on Saturday.

“We did enough things right today to have a chance,” Lickliter said. “But in these games where we have a chance, and we're close, we probably trying to make 10 plays that the best players can't make. When I say the best players, the NBA guys.

“We did more good than bad. Hopefully we can fight and compete and eventually make some winning plays when it comes to that time.”