NEW YORK – Illinois left New York with a win after handling Maryland, 80-76, Friday in the consolation game of the 2K Sports Classic benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer.
“I’m happy to not leave New York empty-handed,” sophomore Tyler Griffey said. “We came out and beat a very tough Maryland team.”
Last season Illinois fell to Utah and Bradley in quick succession in an early-season tournament in Las Vegas. The team had to make a similarly quick turnaround following Thursday’s overtime loss to Texas.
“It was a mental toughness thing,” Illini head coach Bruce Weber said. “And they responded. We talked to them about keeping good attitudes.”
Demetri McCamey led the Illini with 20 points and seven assists. Illinois finished with a total of 22 assists, compared to 10 in the loss against Texas.
“There was a lot more ball movement (Friday),” McCamey said. “We were doing a lot of things we usually don’t do when we played Texas. We were able to move the ball well and get everybody involved.”
Friday featured a strong outing from the Illini bench. Brandon Paul had 12 points in 20 minutes of play. Freshman Jereme Richmond scored eight points in 19 minutes. Griffey added nine points, all from behind the arc coming down the stretch in the first half.
“I had been in a slump for the first couple of games,” Griffey said. “I finally came out of it, and was fortunate enough to hit a few.”
On Friday Crandall Head saw his first action in New York while filling in at the point guard position.
“He came in and had three assists and no turnovers,” Weber said. “So we feel comfortable with him in now if we need to take Demetri out.”
Illinois led by as many as 12 points with five minutes, 35 seconds remaining in regulation, but Maryland kept clawing back in the final moments, coming within two points with 14 seconds remaining.
“One thing we told them, is they are not going to quit,” Weber said. “It’s Coach (Gary) Williams, it’s the way he coaches, and they didn’t quit on Thursday against Pittsburgh.”
Illinois will spend Sunday sightseeing New York City before returning to Champaign to prepare for the rest of the nonconference schedule.
“We got (North) Carolina and Gonzaga in the same week,” Weber said. “So that’s a positive and it really helps with the Big Ten. That’s why we did it. We wanted to be prepared. Play the best, try to beat the best and get ready for what could be the toughest conference in the country.”