Midwest Semifinals: Kansas vs. Illinois

MADISON, Wis., March 21 (UPI) -- It will be a role reversal Friday night when top-seeded Kansas and No. 4 Illinois meet at the Kohl Center in the semifinals of the NCAA Tournament's Midwest Region.

Last season, Illinois was the top seed and Kansas was seeded fourth when they met in the Midwest Region semifinals. The Fighting Illini recorded an 80-64 win behind 30 points from Frank Williams and 15 from Lucas Johnson.

Kansas committed 20 turnovers and shot just 37 percent in the second half of that game.

"It's a new year and it's two different teams with better players this year and it's going to be a different atmosphere," Kansas forward Drew Gooden said. "We're not worried about last year. We're not going to try to motivate ourselves just because we lost to them last year, or even my freshman year.

"That's not going to motivate us. What's going to motivate us is reaching the Final Four."

Kansas (31-3) has become a much better team since that game and advanced with an easy 86-63 beating of Stanford last Saturday. Boschee scored 19 points and Collison added 17 and 13 rebounds.

The Jayhawks jumped to a 15-0 lead. They also received a boost from star guard Kirk Hinrich, who suffered an ankle sprain in a first-round victory over Holy Cross. Hinrich scored 15 points and handed out eight assists in 21 minutes.

Kansas has used its three-guard offense to lead the nation in scoring at 91.2 points per game. Led by Hinrich, Boschee and freshman Aaron Miles, the Jayhawks have topped the 100-point mark 11 times this season, a school record.

Illinois (26-8) struggled to a 4-5 mark in Big Ten play before winning 11 of its last 12 games. The Fighting Illini had a favorable locale for the first two games, defeating San Diego State and Creighton in front of partisan crowds in Chicago.

Williams scored all 20 points in the second half as Illinois posted a 72-60 victory over Creighton on Sunday. Brian Cook scored 16 points and Cory Bradford added 12 as the Illini shot 56 percent.

"I think there were some magazines or some people that picked them to be in the national championship race as a No. 1 team, or two or three in the country, during the preseason," Kansas coach Roy Williams said. "They struggled somewhat. All of a sudden, they turned around. I think the last 12 games, they've played as well as anybody in the country."

The Illini are playing their fifth game at the Kohl Center, the home of Big Ten rival Wisconsin. They are 1-3 here, including three straight losses, and Williams said that he was glad he never had to play here again after a 72-66 loss to the Badgers on Jan. 5.

Illinois coach Bill Self, a former Kansas assistant, has advanced past the regional semifinal each of the last two seasons. He guided Tulsa to the South Region final two seasons ago before the Illini lost to Arizona a year ago.