Austin, TX (Sports Network) - Brandon Paul and D.J. Richardson made shots when
it counted as Illinois survived an ugly shooting performance and a furious
second-half Colorado comeback to take a 57-49 decision in the second round of
the NCAA Tournament.
A game of runs was determined by Illinois' closing 18-5 flurry, which was
sparked by back-to-back 3-pointers from Richardson and Paul, who netted 14 and
17 points, respectively, to push the seventh-seeded Illini (23-12) into a
third round East Regional match with the Miami Hurricanes on Sunday.
Tracy Abrams added 13 points with six assists for the Illini, who shot just
30.8 percent and were coming in as losers in four of six.
Inconsistent offense ultimately doomed the 10th-seeded Buffaloes (21-12),
whose second scoreless stretch of at least eight minutes all but negated a
20-0 run to start the second half.
Askia Booker scored a team-best 14 points, Josh Scott had 10 with 14 boards
and Andre Roberson finished with nine points and eight rebounds in defeat.
GAME NOTES:
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