Jayhawks get familiar foe in next round:?Illinois

By Matt Tait     Mar 19, 2011

KU vs. BostonU

Nick Krug
Kansas players Travis Releford, left, Mario Little, Elijah Johnson and Tyrel Reed erupt off the bench after a three-pointer from teammate Markieff Morris against Boston University during the second half on Friday, March 18, 2011 at the BOK Center in Tulsa.

Box Score

At loose ends: ‘Tight’ early, KU rolls past Terriers

Keegan: Jitters obvious, but Reed immune

Terriers prove dogged

Markieff’s three key: Deep bomb helps KU ‘wrap-up’

Gary Bedore’s KU?hoops notebook

Keegan ratings

? One of the first times University of Illinois men’s basketball coach Bruce Weber talked publicly about Kansas University coach Bill Self was during a mock funeral in Champaign, Ill., in 2003, after Self had left UI for Kansas, making room for Weber to take over.

Tired of hearing about the coach that got away, Weber attended an early-season practice dressed in all black and told his players Self was gone and that it was time to stop the mourning.

Sunday, when the two match up in the third round of the NCAA Tournament at 7:40 p.m., the game will be a funeral of sorts for one team’s season.

For Weber, Sunday’s showdown won’t be about the coaches. None of his current players was recruited to Illinois by Self. And Weber has no real ties to the KU program, either.

“It’s been such a long time,” said Weber, now in his eighth year at Illinois. “Bill did a tremendous job at Illinois. Everywhere (he’s) been (he’s) been (a) very good coach. I’m just worried about Kansas, their players and seeing if we can match up with them.”

The Illini enter Sunday’s game at 20-13 overall and on the heels of a 73-62 rout of UNLV — and another former UI coach, Lon Kruger — Friday at the BOK Center. In that one, Illinois shot 60 percent from the floor and was led by 22 points from senior forward Mike Davis and 17 points from senior guard Demetri McCamey.

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Written By Matt Tait

A native of Colorado, Matt moved to Lawrence in 1988 and has been in town ever since. He graduated from Lawrence High in 1996 and the University of Kansas in 2000 with a degree in Journalism. After covering KU sports for the University Daily Kansan and Rivals.com, Matt joined the World Company (and later Ogden Publications) in 2001 and has held several positions with the paper and KUsports.com in the past 20+ years. He became the Journal-World Sports Editor in 2018. Throughout his career, Matt has won several local and national awards from both the Associated Press Sports Editors and the Kansas Press Association. In 2021, he was named the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Matt lives in Lawrence with his wife, Allison, and two daughters, Kate and Molly. When he's not covering KU sports, he likes to spend his time playing basketball and golf, listening to and writing music and traveling the world with friends and family.