Paul puts on show

CHAMPAIGN – Illinois freshman Brandon Paul didn’t wait long to get his name in the school’s record book.

Paul scored 22 points in the No. 23 Illini’s 96-69 win against Southern Illinois-Edwardsville on Friday, breaking Deon Thomas’ record for most points in a freshman debut set in 1990. Thomas scored 21 in his first game.

Paul came out firing, scoring 11 of Illinois’ first 21 points. The highly touted freshman was 8 of 15 from the fielding, including 4 of 6 from beyond the arc, and added four rebounds and four assists in an all-around effort.

“We wanted to come out with a lot of energy. We all came out really excited to play,” he said. “I just wanted to come out and put points on the board. I just want to keep playing hard.”

The Illini, ranked in the preseason Top 25 for the first time since 2005, shot 55.4 percent from the field and scored their most points in a game since 105 against Longwood in 2004.

“I was definitely excited about the game, how we played with high energy,” Illinois coach Bruce Weber said. “Today the whole thing was energy, excitement and get off to a good, early start, and we did all those things. The crowd got into it. It was a tremendous crowd.”

Paul and D.J. Richardson (14 points) were the first freshmen to start for Illinois since Brian Randle in 2003. It also marked the first time that more than one freshman was in the Illini’s starting lineup since the trio of Deron Williams, Dee Brown and James Augustine in 2002.

Denykco Bowles, Aamir McCleary and Stephen Jones had 13 points each for SIU-Edwardsville (0-1), which shot 34.5 percent from the field.

Weber’s teams have been known for their stellar defense, and they didn’t let up against an overmatched in-state opponent.

Seven-foot-1 junior Mike Tisdale made his presence known in the paint, grabbing six rebounds with three blocks – including rejections on SIU-Edwardsville’s first two possessions of the game to set the tone for the defense. Junior forward Mike Davis returned to last season’s form with 10 points and 10 rebounds for his 10th career double-double.