SAN DIEGO – A handful of band members and cheerleaders, plus less than half the media and a smattering of custodians accounted for all on hand as Illinois tipped off against Air Force in the opening round of the NCAA tournament. No fans filled the 11,686 red seats of the Cox Arena, although as the last players took the court a few ticketholders were trickling through the turnstiles.

“Dee and I going back to AAU days, playing early morning games that nobody was at, that’s what it reminded me of,” senior forward James Augustine said.

With an early morning bomb scare throwing off the schedule, Illinois and Air Force had no choice but to start their game just a half hour after the conclusion of the first session. The UCLA and Belmont fans had hardly cleared the arena as the clock closed in on the start of session two, and the scheduling issues made it impossible to get the Illini and Air Force fans inside in time.

“We were disappointed, to be honest. Our families and friends don’t get to be at tip-off of our NCAA game,” Illinois head coach Bruce Weber said. “You play all theses games all year, and now all of a sudden they can’t be there. You earn the right to play in the NCAA and then you play in front of no people.”

But the fans – who had been waiting outside – found their seats, and by the 10-minute mark it began to look more like the site of an NCAA tournament. What they witnessed was a 78-69 Illinois win that was as much an emotional victory for the Illini as it was a ticket to the next round.

“This has been a crazy couple of days,” Weber said. “Our flight was delayed, we got on the bus and went about six blocks and the bus died on us, couldn’t get to practice. It’s been a fun couples days but our kids have dealt with it and came prepared for the game.”

Illinois’ players laughed their way through the press conference, and happily accepted Weber’s instructions to watch the next game, eat and rest. With another tough competition coming Saturday, the Illini were happy to have escaped their bad luck – at least temporarily – and prove they can handle the pressure.

“We need to take pride in beating the teams we’re supposed to beat,” Weber said. “I think that’s how we approached it (Thursday).”