For a pair of power programs that aren't sure what to make of their early season success, Illinois and Texas are about to get a good barometer of where they're headed.
The 13th-ranked Fighting Illini might already have a decent idea where the Longhorns are going.
Illinois gets an up-close look at a new Texas offense inspired by one of the Illini's former stars Thursday night in the semifinals of the 2K Sports Classic at Madison Square Garden.
Illinois (3-0) returned all five starters from a team that went to the quarterfinals of the NIT, and Bruce Weber's squad looks quite capable of making a return to the NCAA tournament.
The Illini ran out to big first-half leads in opening wins over UC Irvine and Toledo, but they needed to work a little deeper to put away Southern Illinois on Saturday. Illinois led by 11 at the break before opening the second half with a 19-4 run that helped it knock off the Salukis 85-63.
"One of the things we weren't very good about last year was extending leads, playing with leads," Weber said. "I thought at the end of the first half and into the second half we were really staring to make some progress in that."
The Illini are shooting 54.4 percent from the field, and three of their guards are looking good from 3-point range. Senior Demetri McCamey and sophomores Brandon Paul and D.J. Richardson are a combined 18 for 38 (47.4) from beyond the arc.
Illinois was 10-1 when it made 40 percent of its 3s last season and 11-14 otherwise.
Weber, though, is even more impressed with his defense. The length of his backcourt, combined with 7-foot-1 Mike Tisdale and 6-9 Mike Davis, have helped the Illini limit their opponents to 36.0 percent shooting.
"That was one of the comments two coaches said last week, 'Man, we're not going to see that kind of length maybe the rest of the year,'" Weber said. "... We block shots and get a lot of deflections. If we have that intensity we need on defense it will really help."
The Illini should be a good test for Texas (2-0), which spent the offseason revamping its offense after the departures of Damion James, Avery Bradley and Dexter Pittman.
Coach Rick Barnes spent time in Utah studying the pick-and-roll offense coach Jerry Sloan and the Jazz run, a system that also emphasizes pushing the ball in transition.
The quarterback of that offense is former Illini point guard Deron Williams, who subsequently handed over Utah's playbook to Weber.
Highly touted freshman Cory Joseph - who played at the same Nevada high school as Richardson - is eventually expected to play the role of Williams in Barnes' system. He had eight points, seven rebounds, four assists and four steals in an 89-58 win over Louisiana Tech on Nov. 10, while fellow freshman Tristan Thompson had 17 points off the bench.
Combined with sophomore forward Jordan Hamilton, who's averaged 22.5 points, Barnes likes what he sees from his youngsters.
"The biggest thing is we have a group of guys who have really started to do the things we need them to do," Barnes said. "This is a much different style than we have played in the past. They bought in to it so far, but we know we have a lot of growth ahead of us."
Texas and Illinois have split four meetings, with the Longhorns beating the fifth-ranked Illini 72-64 in the last matchup Dec. 23, 2000.
The winner faces No. 5 Pittsburgh or Maryland in Friday's final.
