Champaign, IL (My Sportsbook) - The opening round of the Las Vegas Invitational takes place at campus sites around the country, and two of the teams in the event will meet at Assembly Hall in Champaign tonight, as the Blue Hose of Presbyterian pay a visit to the 23rd-ranked Illinois Fighting Illini.
Illinois is 2-0 on the young season thanks to blowout victories over SIU- Edwardsville (96-69) and Northern Illinois (80-61). Bruce Weber's team will close out a four-game homestand to start the season with Wofford on November 24th, also as part of the Las Vegas Invitational.
The Blue Hose on the other hand, open the season with six straight outside of Clinton, South Carolina. The road has not been kind to the Blue Hose yet, as they have dropped an 84-41 decision at Clemson and a 68-64 nailbiter at Furman.
This game marks the first-ever meeting between these two teams on the hardwood.
After getting blown out at Clemson, the Blue Hose bounced back with a spirited effort at Furman. Three players finished in double figures for Presbyterian, led by sophomore Chase Holmes' 19 points. Jake Troyli added a career-high 15 points, followed by Walt Allen's 10 points. There were other positives in the narrow loss, as Troyli almost recorded a double-double with eight rebounds. PC is the youngest team in the nation, but played well for most of the game at Furman, outrebounding the Paladins, 37-28. After two games, the Blue Hose are hitting just .412 from the floor, resulting in a less than stellar 52.5 ppg. Holmes and Troyli are the only significant scoring options thus far, averaging 14.0 and 12.5 ppg, respectively.
The Illini have also only played two games thus far, but the numbers are much better when compared to Presbyterian. The Illini are shooting nearly 50 percent from the floor (.496), leading to a healthy 88.0 ppg. Three players are currently averaging double figures, led by dynamic freshman Brandon Paul's 21.0 ppg. Paul has hit a scorching .571 from behind the arc, hitting eight of his 14 long range attempts. Mike Davis have provided a perfect complement with his inside game, netting 12.0 ppg and grabbing 13.5 rpg. Demetri McCamey chips in 10.5 ppg and is the set-up man with a team-high 15 assists thus far. Paul scored all 20 of his points in the first half, as Illinois cruised past Northern Illinois on Tuesday. It was another strong outing for the 6-4 youngster, who erupted for a school-record 22 points in a collegiate debut for a freshman against SIU-Edwardsville. Mike Davis had a huge game against NIU as well, finishing with 14 points and 17 rebounds. Mike Tisdale, McCamey and Dominique Keller all netted 10 points in support.
