MILWAUKEE — Orange-and-blue-clad fans showed up ready to roar Friday at Fiserv Forum.
Their sometimes disappointing — but occasionally great — team showed up ready to roar, too.
Illinois got a three-pointer from Kylan Boswell to beat the first-half buzzer for a 40-35 lead, then tore into Xavier for much of the second half in a 86-73 win in an NCAA Tournament first-round game.
It was loud. It was intense. It was the sixth-seeded Illini (22-12) asserting dominance over the 11th-seeded Musketeers (22-12) to such an extent, it tickles the imagination about how long this team might keep playing.
Next up: Kentucky, the 3 seed in the Midwest Region, on Sunday. The Wildcats ripped Troy 76-57 in the opening round.
Illinois and Kentucky haven’t squared off on the hardwood since the 1984 tournament, when they met in the Elite Eight. That Illini team, led by Bruce Douglas, Doug Altenberger and the late Efrem Winters, fell 54-51 on the top-seeded Wildcats’ turf in the last NCAA Tournament game played at a home site. Winters was hobbled by a badly sprained ankle, and there was some questionable officiating at the end.
A little payback — way, way belated — would push the Illini through to the Sweet 16 in Indianapolis.
Freshman Will Riley exploded with 18 second-half points and led the way with 22. His back-to-back dunks made it 59-48 with 12:56 left, then he canned a three off the dribble for a 14-point lead.
Tomislav Ivisic had 20, and Kasparas Jakucionis finished one rebound shy of a triple-double.