Gophers Burrow Illini 75-63
Every game it all seems new to Quincy Lewis. The shots, the points, the expectations.
Yet every game it looks exactly the same. Lewis simply can't be stopped.
Scoring almost at will in the second half to coax cheers of "MVP, MVP" from the fans, Lewis scored 28 points to lead No. 18 Minnesota to an easy 75-63 victory over struggling Illinois on Wednesday night.
Lewis, the Big Ten scoring leader and the leading candidate for Player of the Year in the nation's toughest conference, is averaging 29 points in his last six games. That's twice his scoring average from last season, the only time in his first three seasons the 6-foot-7 forward averaged in double figures.
"I'm becoming more comfotable with what coach is asking of me and the type of things I have to do," Lewis said. "Everybody says I'm scoring a lot of points, but this is new to me, too.
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"There's certain things I have to do to get open, and now I'm starting to learn how to get open. And when I catch the ball, to catch the ball in rhythm and shoot it. Because basketball's all about rhythm, and that's what I have now."
Never more than he did in a three-minute stretch of the second half Wednesday.
With the Golden Gophers (14-5, 5-4 Big Ten) already comfortably in front -- Lewis helped get them there with six points in a 14-0 run late in the first half -- he scored 10 of Minnesota's 12 points in one stretch.
With Bobby Jackson, Minnesota's only previous Big Ten Player of the Year (1997), watching from the stands, Lewis started his surge with a 3-pointer to make it 59-38 with 10:32 remaining.
After a basket by Kevin Nathaniel, Lewis hit a jumper and another 3-pointer to make it 66-43. That's when the "MVP" cheers started from the student section at the west end of Wiliams Arena.
Lewis responded with a basket inside the next trip to the opposite end to push the lead to 68-43, Minnesota's biggest of the night to that point.
Lewis was 10-for-16 for the game, 4-for-7 from 3-point range. He became the ninth player in school history to top 1,400 career points. He needs 25 to pass Trent Tucker (1,445) for eighth place.
"Quincy has taken this team on his back and just carried us," coach Clem Haskins said.
Kevin Clark scored 16 points for the Gophers, who have won 10 of their last 11 conference games at Williams Arena. Minnesota improved to 16-3 overall in February over the last three seasons.
The young Illini (9-13, 1-9) could use someone to carry them these days.
Although Illinois finished the game on a 14-1 run over the final five minutes, it still lost for the ninth time in 10 games and faces five ranked teams in the remaining six regular-season games.
Cory Bradford, the Big Ten's leading scorer among freshman, led Illinois with 14 points, but 12 came in the game's first 12 minutes. Sergio McClain had 13 and Cleotis Brown scored 12.
"It's hard to swallow," McClain said of the defeat. "We're trying to make something positive out of it. We all hate losing, but after every dark night there's a brighter day."
The game didn't start too badly for the Illini. They led 11-6 early and tied it 27-27 when Brown was credited with a basket on a goaltending call against 7-1 Minnesota freshman Joel Przybilla.
Miles Tarver hit a jumper just over a minute later to make it 29-27 and start the Gophers on a 14-0 run. Lewis was 4-for-4 at the foul line in that stretch, and he finished the surge with a steal and a layup for a 41-27 lead with 1:06 remaining before the break.
Illinois hit just one of its last five shots in the first half, then went 1-for-5 over the first 7:29 of the second half. Over that period, Minnesota turned a tie game into a 22-point lead, 54-32 when Mitch Ohnstad hit a reverse layup in traffic with 13:04 left to play.
"The late run (in the first half) shows the difference," said Illinois coach Lon Kruger. "Minnesota is an extremely good team. They have many weapons."
And one that no one can stop.
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