When Illinois and Syracuse meet Wednesday evening at the Rainbow Classic in Honolulu, somebody’s fast start will come to a screeching halt.
At 9-0, both teams are the early surprises of their respective conferences and both are making headway in returning to national prominence.
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In this mid-season tournament, the loser’s reaction could be most telling. That team might learn from its mistakes and then bounce back, or it could begin a free-fall into big conference matchups.
“Sometimes when you win, you don’t always learn the things you need to learn,” said California coach Todd Bozeman, whose team lost to Illinois Saturday. “Kids listen better when they stub their toe.”
Last year, for example, California started out 7-0. The Golden Bears finished 13-14.
No. 12 Illinois will get another solid test in No. 13 Syracuse, which upset ninth-ranked Arizona 79-70 Saturday on the road. The Orangemen are led by senior forward John Wallace, an All-American candidate who is averaging 23 points and 8.6 rebounds per game.
“We’re going to go against some teams that are bigger and more experienced than us, and that’s when we’ll be tested,” said Illinois coach Lou Henson, who continues to pick on his team’s lack of size. “Small people will beat big people some of the time, but we’ll see if that continues.”
Said Illini point guard Kiwane Garris, who leads the team with 17.3 points per game: “I expect hard competition. It’s good for us to see where we’re at.”
Whichever team prevails will play the winner of Wednesday’s second game, between Rhode Island (5-2) and Hawaii (3-2), in a second-round contest Friday night. The losers meet Friday afternoon in a consolation bracket, with still another game to follow for all four.
While Illinois and Syracuse should win their second games, capturing the classic title will be more difficult. Two more ranked teams, including No.1 Massachusetts, are also in Hawaii.
The eight-school tournament includes USC (6-2) against No. 18 Missouri (7-2) in a first-round game, and Massachusetts (7-0) against North Carolina State (6-0) in another. Every team plays three games, with the finals Saturday night.
Friendly foes: Northwestern coach Ricky Byrdsong and Loyola coach Ken Burmeister became close friends from 1983-86 when both were on Lute Olson’s staff at Arizona.
But Saturday afternoon Byrdsong will have a score to settle with his old pal when the Wildcats (4-3) and the Ramblers (2-5) meet in DePaul’s Alumni Hall. Last season in their first meeting as head coaches, Loyola surmounted a 21-point deficit to win 70-69 on forward Joe Estes’ three-point shot with five seconds to play.