WASHINGTON – The court read “Georgetown” in blue and gray letters. The Hoyas wore “home” white jerseys. The Georgetown mascot – a bulldog, which I guess is a “Hoya” – patrolled the sidelines.

But No. 1 Illinois got a rousing ovation when it walked onto the court.

So much for the road game. No. 1 Illinois had the Capital Krush behind them as they defeated Gerogetown 74-59.

Georgetown runs the Princeton offense – which Northwestern used to beat Illinois 70-60 last year. Illinois hasn’t played the same since beating Wake Forest and Gonzaga. Practice is the place the team can find that form, but the team hasn’t been able to practice much this week.

And the game was played in a Georgetown’s equivalent of the United Center – allowing the Hoyas to turn the MCI Center into a home game away from home.

That all could have added up to an early season slip-up for the No. 1 team in the country.

Instead, the MCI Center became as close to a home court as Illinois will find on the East Coast because Illinois is the Johnny Come Lately in college basketball. The Illini dismantled the then-No. 1 team, Wake Forest. No one expected the supposed best non-conference game of the year to be decided in 10 minutes. People want to see what this Illinois team is about.

People showed up at the MCI Center decked out in orange and blue two and a half hours before tipoff. The gates did not open for another hour and a half.

There are people waiting two and a half hours before an Illinois game at Assembly Hall. They are called the Orange Krush. What else is a college student supposed to do? I mean, class isn’t an option.

Fifteen seconds into the game, half of the stadium chanted “I-L-L.” The other half responded with “I-N-I.”

The crowd even dressed like it was Paint the Center Orange Night. One guy in the stands had an orange KAM’s shirt on and spent half the game on his cell phone – probably talking to his former frat brothers watching the game at KAM’s.

Illinois fans heckled the “home” players. Georgetown guard Brandon Bowman shot an airball. He was bombarded with an “airball” chant.

The fans were even up with the latest Illinois cheers. With 6.7 seconds left in the first half, Warren Carter made his first appearance. And just like in Champaign, it was accompanied with a “Warren Carter” chant by the crowd. The first Warren Carter chant started as a whisper at the end of last year. So I guess there were some recent Illinois graduates who went home happy seeing their favorite Illinois bench player getting some action. ÿ

The only Georgetown fans in the house were the students behind one basket. Half of the Hoya students showed up late. The other half decided to yell “overrated” at the Illini players during pre-game warm-ups.

“That stuff is going to happen when you’re on the road,” said Illinois senior forward Roger Powell Jr.

If Georgetown cheers backward, it’s probably best the Hoya faithful didn’t say much more.

The only time Georgetown was heard was in the opening minutes. Illinois missed a few early shots, played a little sloppy and gave Georgetown a 17-13 lead. But when Illinois went on a 10-0 run with four minutes left in the first half to take the lead at 27-22, the Illini – and the Capital Krush – controlled the rest of the game.

“You’re still on the road,” Powell Jr. said. “It isn’t Assembly Hall. But it’s better than Arkansas.”

Until the Arkansas Illini make their presence known.

Bobby La Gesse is a senior in communications. He can be reached at [email protected].