No. 6 seed Illinois feeds off fans for an 86-73 first-round win over Xavier in the NCAA Tournament
MILWAUKEE — Illinois guard Kylan Boswell took a couple of dribbles and launched the 3-pointer with a Xavier defender in his face just a second before the halftime buzzer.
He held up three fingers while looking toward the heavy Illini crowd at Fiserv Forum, which roared its approval at a five-point Illinois lead.
The buzz and the lead grew from there in the second half of the NCAA Tournament first-round game.
In their last game a week earlier, a blowout Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal loss to Maryland, the Illini lamented their lack of energy. The No. 6 seed Illini didn't have that problem Friday night in their 86-73 win over No. 11 Xavier.
Illinois advances to play Sunday in the second round against No. 3 seed Kentucky, which beat No. 14 seed Troy 76-57 in the first game of the evening session in Milwaukee.
Every big second-half shot revved up the Illini fans that had traveled from Champaign and the Chicago area Friday.
A Kasparas Jakučionis three-point play. A Morez Johnson Jr. dunk off a Jakučionis feed. Three straight Will Riley baskets, capped by a 3-pointer and another display of three fingers. Riley waving his hands in front of the crowd before completing a three-point play with a free throw. Riley hitting his seventh of eight field-goal attempts in the half.
Riley scored 22 points to lead four Illini players in double figures, along with Tomislav Ivišić (20 points), Jakučionis (16) and Boswell (15).
Meanwhile, the Illinois defense was effective against Xavier's stars. Musketeers 6-foot-9 forward Zach Freemantle scored just five points, and guard Ryan Conwell had 12 points. Dailyn Swain scored 27.
Xavier cut it to eight points with about 4 minutes, 4 seconds remaining, but Riley hit a 3-pointer and Jakučionis had a steal and layup to make the lead more comfortable.
To start the game, the Illini missed 6 of 7 shots but then made 5 of their next 6. Ivišić was key in the run with seven straight Illinois points. He backed down Freemantle in the lane for a basket inside and then hit a 3-pointer.
In the first half, Ivišić scored 13 points on 5-for-9 shooting, including 3-for-5 from 3-point range. He gave a tiny fist pump when he answered a Dante Maddox Jr. 3-pointer with his third 3 of the half just 15 seconds later.
The Illini went nearly five minutes without a field goal near the end of the first half — getting only two Riley free throws — before Boswell hit the 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer for a 40-35 lead.
Illinois attacked Xavier inside in the first half, drew eight fouls and made 10 of 10 free throws to help their halftime advantage.
In the earlier night game, Kentucky junior guard Otega Oweh, a transfer from Oklahoma this year, led the Wildcats with 20 points, eight rebounds, six assists and two steals.
Troy trailed by one point with 3:17 to play in the first half. But Kentucky went on a 10-0 run sparked by 3-pointers from Trent Noah and Andrew Carr and a fullcourt drive and dunk from Amari Williams with 1:59 to play. UK went into halftime up 35-27.
Kentucky led by double digits for most of the second half and by as many as 25 points.
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