Five days until Illinois heads to Cincinnati. Saturday is getting really really close!!
Five gives us Deron Williams, which would be reason enough to open the record book. But there’s also a big man who took over a school record against Purdue and another No. 5 who helped bring a Big Ten Tournament trophy back to Champaign.
Remember Some Guys!
Deron Williams wore five and made five when it mattered
There was never much suspense about who would lead off this one.
On March 26, 2005, Deron Williams scored 22 points and handed out ten assists in Illinois’ 90–89 overtime win over Arizona. He made five of his nine three-point attempts. Luther Head made five, too.
Ten threes between those two, and Illinois still needed just about every second it could get.
Deron’s tying three gets replayed for good reason. Illinois had been down 75–60 with about four minutes left. By the time he let that shot go, the Illini had somehow clawed their way back to a one-possession game. It went in, the score was 80–80, and there was suddenly another five minutes of basketball to survive.
He made two more threes in overtime. Getting the game tied had already required an absurd comeback, and then No. 5 still had six more points to contribute before Illinois could finally celebrate a trip to St. Louis.
A week later, he gave us a different kind of performance against Louisville. Francisco Garcia came in averaging 21 points through the Cardinals’ first four NCAA Tournament games. With Deron guarding him, Garcia finished with four points on 2-for-10 shooting. Illinois won 72–57 and reached the national championship game.
Five made threes one Saturday, then a defensive assignment like that the next. Deron had a helluva lot of ways to help Illinois win.
Nnanna Egwu and five blocks that changed the record book
On January 21, 2015, Illinois beat Purdue 66–57 at State Farm Center. Nnanna Egwu finished with eleven points, seven rebounds, three steals, and five blocks.
The fourth block was the one that put his name on top. Egwu turned away a Vince Edwards dunk attempt late in the first half, passing Deon Thomas’ Illinois career record of 177. Thomas had held that mark since 1994.
Egwu added one more before the night was over and left with 179 career blocks. Five in one game, and a record that had lasted more than twenty years was his.
Illinois needed those stops. The Illini shot 28.6 percent in the first half and somehow reached the break ahead 32–30. You don’t get many comfortable possessions when the shots are falling that infrequently.
Leron Black helped make up for it. In his first career start, the freshman had fifteen points and thirteen rebounds, six of them offensive. Malcolm Hill scored eighteen. Illinois also went 21-for-24 at the foul line.
Egwu got a pretty good finishing touch on his record-setting night, too. His dunk with eighteen seconds left made it 64–57 and gave the Illini a little breathing room.
A school record, five blocked shots, and a late dunk to help put Purdue away. That’s a night worth pulling out of the archives.
Andre Curbelo gave No 5 another championship afternoon
Sixteen years after Deron’s last Illinois season, another No. 5 was making plays in overtime with a trophy waiting.
On March 14, 2021, Illinois beat Ohio State 91–88 in Indianapolis to win its first Big Ten Tournament championship since 2005. Ayo Dosunmu, Kofi Cockburn, and freshman Andre Curbelo each scored sixteen points.
Curbelo added six rebounds and five assists. There’s our number again.
His freshman year had already earned him Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year honors. He scored seventeen in the win at Michigan, then nineteen in the regular-season finale at Ohio State. By tournament Sunday, Illinois had plenty of evidence that he could produce against good teams away from Champaign.
Then the championship game went to overtime, tied at 77. Curbelo opened the extra period with a pullup jumper. Later, he added another jumper and two free throws. Six of his sixteen points came in those final five minutes.
That’s a whole lot to ask from a freshman in a championship game. Illinois had Ayo and Kofi, and it still needed what Curbelo could give it with the ball in his hands.
The Illini had waited since 2005 to win this tournament again. Getting it done with another No. 5 helping finish the job was a pretty sweet connection.
Illinois opens its exhibition schedule at Cincinnati on Saturday, October 17, at 4 p.m. Central.
Five days. Let’s go, Illini!!
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