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Tisdale helps Illinois top Michigan

Jan 15, 2009 - 7:37 AM CHAMPAIGN, Illinois (Ticker) -- Mike Tisdale made sure Michigan's struggles in Champaign would continue.

Tisdale scored 24 points and Demetri McCamey added 17 with five assists as Illinois posted a 66-51 Big Ten Conference victory over the 24th-ranked Wolverines on Wednesday.

Trent Meacham finished with 11 points and Calvin Brock had eight for the Fighting Illini (15-2, 3-1 Big Ten), who avenged a 74-64 loss at Michigan just 10 days ago.

"We didn't play very hard the first time we played them and we talked about that tonight," Illinois coach Bruce Weber said. "Having high energy, intensity, playing aggressively, (we) talked about attacking them defensively and I thought we did that much better."

Manny Harris poured in 20 points and freshman Zack Novak grabbed nine rebounds for the Wolverines (13-4, 3-2), who have not won at Illinois since 1995 - losing 12 straight games at Assembly Hall in that span.

With the loss, Wolverines coach John Beilein failed to record his 500th career win with a Division I team.

It also marked the 1,600th all-time win for Illinois.

"Only 13 programs to do that, so that's a nice elite group," Weber said. "It's great for the program and another milestone in the tradition of Illinois basketball."

Michigan held a 31-30 advantage at the break, but Tisdale took over in the second half. The 7-1 center had nine points in the first five minutes of the half - the only points the Illini managed over that stretch.

"It wasn't against a big guy, but at least he was holding his ground and playing tough against them," Weber said of Tisdale.

Tisdale, who finished 10-of-12 from the field with three blocks, scored nine more points on a later 18-4 run. The sophomore highlighted the burst, which gave Illinois a 60-45 lead, with a long 3-pointer.

"(Tisdale's) hard for us," Beilein told the Chicago Tribune. "When we're playing small we're not real big at center."

It was a pleasant change from the last time these teams met for Tisdale, who had seven points during the January 4 matchup. He was pulled from that game after being rattled by Wolverines forward DeShawn Sims.

After a back-and-forth first half that featured four ties and 11 lead changes, Michigan shot just 21 percent (6-of-29) over the final 20 minutes. The Wolverines made 32 percent (19-of-59) of their shots overall, while the Fighting Illini knocked down 48 percent (22-of-46).

Harris was Michigan's lone offensive threat after the break, scoring 15 of the club's 20 second-half points.