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McCamey scores 30 in Illinois' win over Oakland

Dec 9, 2010 - 3:43 AM Champaign, IL (Sports Network) - Demetri McCamey scored 30 points, elevating 16th-ranked Illinois after a sluggish first half to a 74-63 victory over Oakland.

McCamey finished 10-of-18 and drained three treys, D.J. Richardson contributed 16 points and Jereme Richmond added 10 points in the victory. Mike Tisdale was a factor on the interior with seven points and nine rebounds for the Fighting Illini (9-1), who have won six straight.

Reggie Hamilton led Oakland (5-4) with 18 points and seven rebounds, while Will Hudson added 14 points and eight rebounds and Keith Benson donated 11 points and seven boards. The Golden Grizzlies saw their four-game winning streak come to an end.

The Golden Grizzlies were not intimidated in front of the Orange Crush student section, jumping out to a 10-2 edge on Hudson's tip-in off Benson's miss with just under 15 1/2 minutes to play in the opening half. Richardson's layup in the opening 30 seconds was the only Illinois field goal until McCamey's layup over four minutes later.

Oakland didn't take its foot off the pedal, as Travis Bader drained a three and Ledrick Eackles connected on a mid-range jumper for a surprising 15-4 margin about six minutes in. Illinois scored the next seven points, but Hamilton drained a three and Hudson converted in transition, opening a nine- point lead, 20-11, for the visitors.

After Bader's three-pointer made the score 28-20, the Golden Grizzles didn't score another point for the rest of the half. They missed all six of their shots and turned the basketball over on three straight possessions after Bader's trey, but Illinois could only cut the deficit in half to 28-24.

Hamilton's three-pointer extended Oakland's edge to 36-27 early in the second half, but Oakland again went through an extended dry spell, and this time it paid the price. Nearly five minutes went by for the visitors without a field goal, as Illinois steam rolled to a 45-36 edge on the heels of 18 successive points, 13 of them from the all-conference candidate McCamey, who scored in a variety of ways through conventional three-point plays, layups in transition and back-to-back three-pointers.

Oakland scored the next six points capped by Eackles' layup just under midway through the half, but Illinois assumed a double-digit edge, 54-44, soon after thanks to Richmond's slam. Oakland never got closer than nine points the rest of the way.

Game Notes

Illinois made 43.1 percent of its shots and 8-of-18 three-point tries...The Golden Grizzlies shot 35.4 percent from the floor...Hudson made all five of his shots...Oakland committed 15 turnovers...The Golden Grizzlies' offensive success came in part from 21 offensive rebounds, including five each from Hamilton and Hudson...Illinois has won all three meetings between the two schools.