Illinois wore down the Eastern Washington Eagles in the second half of Friday’s regular season opener to win the game 66-50, led by the offensive weaponry of guard Trent Meacham.

Meacham, after struggling in the team’s final exhibition game last Sunday, scored 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field. After an evenly matched first half, Illinois outscored the Eagles 31-15 in the final period. Meacham said it was the little things that led to the second half turnaround.

“In the second half we were just solid,” Meacham said. “We pushed the ball, played solid defense, and just wore them down.”

After entering the second half tied at 35, Illinois opened up an eight-point lead aided in part by a weaving layup from Jeff Jordan, who logged 15 minutes off the bench. Illinois gradually extended its lead for the remainder of the half.

Richard Semrau and Mike Tisdale hit short layups consecutively, as did Meacham and Frazier two minutes later. Meacham made it a 16-point advantage on a steal and a full-court drive that ended in a contested layup.

“Illinois cranked it up defensively,” Eagles coach Kirk Earlywine said. “We would have had to pitch a three hit shutout to win the game. I thought we could squeeze it a little more than we were able to.”

Illinois sat guard Demetri McCamey to start the game, a signal to the sophomore guard that he needs to pick up his work ethic and leadership in practice. Chester Frazier, the Illini’s second leading scorer in the game with 13 points, explained the maneuver.

“He’s a young guy. He’s very talented,” Frazier said. “We’re going to need him to win games obviously. That should motivate him some more. I think that got him going a little bit.”

McCamey finished with 11 points in 29 minutes and shot 4-of-9 from the field. Head coach Bruce Weber said it’s nothing new that McCamey struggles with work ethic.

“If we don’t keep him accountable, how can we keep the other kids accountable?” Weber said. “You’ve got to get your best player to buy in and be your hardest worker.”

Illinois opened the game with Meacham, Frazier, Davis, Tisdale, and Brock in the starting lineup. McCamey started the second half and drained a three pointer on the opening possession.

Illinois forced four turnovers in the first five minutes of the game, including two steals by guard Chester Frazier, to open an 11-4 lead. Trent Meacham made all three of his three-point attempts in the first half and has 11 points.

But Eastern Washington outscored Illinois in the next eight minutes of play to pull within two, 20-22. The team gained the lead with 1:24 left on a jumper from Benny Valentine. Valentine finished with 14 points in the half on 4-of-8 shooting from the field and three free throws.

Demetri McCamey started the second half in place of Brock and hit a three on his team’s first possession to make it 38-35.

Note: Illinois walk-on Andew “Bubba” Chisolm entered the game at the end of the second half to cheers from the Orange Krush student section. He had the ball with 20 seconds left with Illinois leading heavily, and didn’t shoot. After the buzzer, he lifted a three pointer and drained it. Coach Weber said he’s been impressed with the Champaign native.

“He’s got a good personality, got some energy, he’s got a goofy name. I think it’s someone you can latch onto like Chris Hicks.

“If he wants to be captain of the bench, I’ll love it.”