NCAA Basketball 10 Simulation: Austin Peay @ Illinois

Despite being nearly five years old, NCAA Basketball 10 still plays remarkably well. Even when it's the CPU playing itself. In the third game of the season, the Fighting Illini were ready to take on the Austin Peay Governors at State Farm Center. Illinois' leading scorer coming into the game was Rayvonte Rice, with Ahmad Starks and Aaron Cosby both averaging double-digit points per game too. Here's a full summary of how it went down.

1st Half:

The Illini came out guns blazing against the Governors. Aaron Cosby hit a couple quick threes and then his replacement, Kendrick Nunn, subbed in and did the same. It was quickly 13-0 Illinois which forced Austin Peay coach Dave Loos to call an early timeout. Based on the fact that he slammed his computer-generated fist through the scorer's table, I don't think he was too happy with his guys.

The Governors slowly but surely made the game respectable, but for the most part John Groce's squad was dominating. Nnanna Egwu grabbed several big offensive rebounds that led to points and Ahmad Starks made several pretty floaters to help contribute to a 15-point Illini lead at the under-four timeout. Then Groce did what resembled a hockey line change, as Maverick Morgan, Austin Colbert, Leron Black, and Jaylon Tate all entered into the game for the first time. Each one of them would end up scoring a bucket before the end of the first half, and at the break the Illini led by twenty.

Halftime: Illinois 37, Austin Peay 17

2nd Half:

This is when the Illinois defense fell apart. After only giving up seventeen points in the first half, they gave up 51 points in the second. Point guard Zavion Williams played a big role in Austin Peay's comeback effort, knocking down two three-pointers in a row to cut the deficit to single digits. But he also committed a whopping eight turnovers by himself, forcing Coach Loos to sit him for backup guard Tre' Ivory. He came off the bench and played 27 minutes for the Governors to help out the defensively-troubled Williams.

By the time the under-eight timeout rolled around, this was only a 66-58 game in favor of the Illini. While the first half Illinois team felt more like the one that played Coppin State, the second half team was most definitely the one that was having trouble with Georgia Southern. But Coach Groce called a full timeout when the lead was cut to eight and that seemed to provide the spark the Illini needed to finish off Austin Peay.

Illinois ended the game on a 14-10 run, most of which consisted of fouls and free throws back-and-forth, and they ended up winning the game by twelve. But the final scoring margin was not a good indicator of the way the Illini dominated this game, especially in the first half. This should've probably been a twenty or thirty-point victory.

Final: Illinois 80, Austin Peay 68

Check out the complete box score from the team's third-straight victory of the season below, and look for another NCAA Basketball 10 simulation before next Monday's game.