Illinois

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Next up for Maryland is the All-American backcourt of Arizona's Mike Bibby and Miles Simon, and being shortchanged in comparisons is nothing new for the Terps' Terrell Stokes and Sarunas Jasikevicius.In the first round of the NCAA tournament, Maryland beat a guard-oriented Utah State team. In the second round yesterday, the Terps were up against one of the best backcourts in the Big Ten, and Jasikevicius and Stokes outscored Illinois' Kevin Turner and Matt Heldman, 30-19.

CHICAGO -- Just hours after Illinois won a national competition for a cutting-edge clean coal project, the Department of Energy cautioned yesterday that costs were getting out of hand and it wasn't ready to sign off on the $1.8 billion FutureGen power plant. "Projected cost overruns require a reassessment of FutureGen's design," read a statement from Energy Department official James Slutz. He said the department would provide more details next month on plans to restructure FutureGen. The downcast statement quickly soured the party atmosphere in Mattoon, Ill., which hours earlier had been picked by a consortium of utilities, coal companies and the Energy Department as the site for the plant designed to test whether abundant coal can be used to make power with little pollution.

Washington.RUTHERFORD CALHOUN is one of those rapscallions who have enlivened American literature since Huck Finn decided civilization made him itch, and lit out for the territories. Calhoun is a ne'er-do-well who instead of going down a river on a raft stowed away on a ship to escape the twin horrors of debts and marriage. The ship turned out to be bound for Africa to collect cargo: slaves. And Calhoun is black.So is his creator, Charles Johnson, who teaches at the University of Washington and has written, without setting out to do so, an emancipation proclamation for black writers.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- This one was all about the "R" word. Respect.Or lack thereof for a school from a smaller conference that was considered an appendage of the University of Tennessee.The team wants to be known as simply Chattanooga, not Tennessee-Chattanooga, with the nickname Mocs, referring to the mockingbird, the state bird. No more Moccasins. And no more Chief Mocanooga on the logo.After yesterday's outing in the NCAA Southeast Regional, their identity problem has been eased.The 14th-seeded Mocs thought Illinois was taking a little too much for granted during a pre-game celebration and vented their anger on the court with a 75-63 victory that propelled them into the Sweet 16 for the first time.

ST. LOUIS - In the end, it was more about defense than destiny, more about its selfless supporting cast than its two biggest stars. The Illinois basketball team has started and ended every practice since October with the chant "national champion" and now the Fighting Illini are one step away from their goal. With second-half offensive explosions from Roger Powell Jr. and Luther Head, a lot of defense and a little of everything from everybody else, the top-ranked Fighting Illini took down Louisville, 72-57, last night in front of 47,754 at the Edward Jones Dome in the national semifinal and advanced to their first-ever national championship game.

Two of the nation's leading tote companies - one based in Maryland and the other embroiled in a bet-rigging scandal stemming from this year's Breeders' Cup - won conditional renewals of their licenses yesterday by the Illinois Racing Board. Autotote Systems Inc. of Newark, Del., was reapproved to do business in 2003 in Illinois, the state in which this year's Breeders' Cup was run on Oct. 26. However, it was ordered to comply with all recommendations that come from an industry-wide security audit, as well as an internal audit being peformed by Kroll Inc. at the request of Autotote.

It's hump day for Maryland.Coach Gary Williams would never think this way out loud, but the optimists among Terps basketball fans do. If Terence Morris and company can defeat No. 16 Illinois in the semifinals of the BB&T Classic at MCI Center in Washington today at 3: 15 p.m., it could be the springboard to a 12-1 start.The Terps (5-1) won't hear any boos until their Atlantic Coast Conference opener at North Carolina State on Jan. 6, the first time they will play on an opponent's court. No. 24 Maryland will get Seton Hall or George Washington in the BB&T tomorrow, then play five straight games at Cole Field House, the biggest being next Saturday's revenge bout with Kentucky.

They look nothing alike, the three guards of Illinois, yet people have the darnedest time separating them. Which is the best? The most indispensable? The best shooter? The toughest defender? The top NBA prospect? There is Dee Brown, the Big Ten Player of the Year, a streak shooter with braids, a bright orange mouthpiece and the quickness to pick a player's pocket with the game on the line. There is Luther Head, who escaped a controversial scrape with the law after a burglary at an off-campus apartment before last season to remain on the team - and became not only the Illini's leading scorer this season, but their most productive three-point shooter as well.

Loyola of Illinois couldn't decide if it was going to provide a game for the Navy women yesterday. After much vacillating, the visiting Ramblers played in spurts and the Mids prevailed, 80-59.Jumping out from the opening tip, the Mids had an 18-3 lead after just six minutes and ran up a 28-7 advantage as Laurie Coffey enjoyed a career game. The junior center had half of Navy's 28 points at that point and ended up leading her team with 22.After the opening 10 minutes, Loyola looked like a different team for the remainder of the first half, outscoring Navy, 25-10, to trail 41-32 at the break.

COLLEGE PARK -- The calendar has yet to reach December, yet the steamy air at sold-out Cole Field House will feel like March tonight. It is time for the No. 5 Maryland Terrapins to receive another early-season progress report, and No. 2 Illinois will be administering the test. Talk about a great way to launch the third annual ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Maryland (3-1), owner of three straight victories and the nation's longest nonconference home-court winning streak at 79, will measure itself against a deep, seasoned Illinois squad (5-0)