Illini Live Blog: FINAL - House Of Paign 76, War Tampa 53

The mostly Illinois alumni team 'House of Paign' takes on the mostly Auburn alumni team 'War Tampa' in the first round of the TBT 2020 in Columbus, Ohio.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Well, we haven't done one of these in a long while, huh? 

Welcome to the live blog of the Illinois alumni 'House Of Paign' first round game in The Basketball Tournament 2020 as they face 'War Tampa', a mostly Auburn alumni team tonight at Nationwide Arena in Columbus Arena.

I'm LOOKING LIVE...at the Illini Now/Sports Illustrated home office, as we're about an hour from the opening tip. While the game is live on ESPN tonight, please feel free to use this platform as your live update of the action while you enjoy your Fourth of July plans. 

NOTE: Please join us as we live-blog and discuss the game here in our weekly Illini Gameday Open Thread. Dive into the conversation — it's easy — by simply going to the top right of the redesigned site and click the follow button.

You can log in with Facebook or Google and either way, it's free. That's right...IT'S FREE. From there, sound off in the comment section and share your reactions and observations with our staff and fellow members of the Illini Now/Sports Illustrated community as we keep you up to date of the game in real-time.

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First Round Game: No. 16-seed 'House Of Paign' vs. No. 17-seed 'War Tampa' 

Date/Time/Place: Saturday, July 4, 2020: 7 p.m. CST, Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio

Capacity: N/A (Due to COVID-19 health safety protocols, no fans are allowed in the building). 

Records: No records for either team. Winner does get to face No. 1 seed Carmen's Crew, an Ohio State alumni team that won the TBT event last season. 

Line: 'House Of Paign' is a +2200 to win the tournament; 'War Tampa' is a +3200 to win the tournament. (Odds provided by sportsbettingdime.com)

Series Notes: N/A

TV: ESPN 

Radio: None

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Uniform Update:

Beautiful is the word that comes to mind.. https://t.co/F0UAsR9Gwv

— House of ‘Paign (@IlliniTBT) July 3, 2020

War Tampa jerseys ready to go for tomorrow 🔥

@war_tampa pic.twitter.com/H7dj9gmFcc

— TBT (@thetournament) July 3, 2020

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NOTE: In the first two games of TBT 2020, the contests have gone by seed as No. 9 seed 'Big X' defeated No. 24 seed 'D2' 79-74 and No. 12 seed 'Brotherly Love' defeated No. 21 seed 'Stillwater Stars' 87-71. 

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6:30 p.m. UPDATE - Starting lineups have been announced for both teams - 'House Of Paign' will start Andres Feliz, Mike Daum of South Dakota State, Billy Garrett of Depaul, Malcolm Hill and Nnanna Egwu. 'War Tampa' will start Bryce Brown of Auburn, Fletcher McGee of Wofford, Shaheed Davis of UCF, Justin Gray of Texas Tech and Horace Spencer of Auburn. 

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7:05 p.m. UPDATE - Dan Dakich will serve as the analyst on ESPN for this game tonight. 

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First basket of the game is a three-pointer by Mike Daum. He's got all five of the 'House Of Paign' points. 

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WAR TAMPA TIMEOUT - 4:45 left in 1st - House Of Paign 14, War Tampa 5 - Malcolm Hill gets in the scoring column with a breakaway slam. Daum leads all scorers with nine points on 4 of 5 shooting.  

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MEDIA TIMEOUT - 3:46 left in 1st - House Of Paign 14, War Tampa 5 - Bryce Brown has all five of War Tampa's points but everybody else on their roster is 0 of 6 from the field. Daum is scoring from all areas and Feliz is already pushing the tempo. 

First time I saw former @IlliniMBB guard, @verdadero_andre, was as an 18-year old for the Dominican Republic 🇩🇴 in the Pan Am Games in Toronto. Loved his quickness & toughness. And, I think this @IlliniTBT could be sneaky.

— Fran Fraschilla (@franfraschilla) July 5, 2020

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Fmr. Illinois star Dee Brown was on the ESPN broadcast during this first quarter. Brown says if Ayo Dosunmu and Kofi Cockburn come back to the 2020-21 Illini roster, they'll be a Top 10 team nationally.

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End of 1st - House Of Paign 19, War Tampa 14 - War Tampa closed the quarter well but Malcolm Hill gets a slam right before the buzzer. Daum leads all scorers with nine but Feliz also has five points and two rebounds. 

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MEDIA TIMEOUT - 3:23 left in 2nd- House Of Paign 32, War Tampa 23 - War Tampa is 1 of 9 from three-point range and House Of Paign has done a great job of not letting Bryce Brown or Fletcher McGee get open looks. Mike Daum with 15 and all but 2 of HOP's points have come from starters. 

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HALFTIME - House Of Paign 39, War Tampa 28 - House Of Paign ends the second quarter on a dunk (this time by Michael Finke). Mike Daum leads all scorers with 15, along with six rebounds and Andres Feliz with 11 points. House Of Paign has 22 points in the paint, usually coming on drives from the perimeter. 

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“Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.” House of Paign came PREPARED by Coach @LaTulip_Mike. A MONSTER dunk by @Finke_Michael to cap the half and bring the lead to 11.

House of Paign: 39
War Tampa: 28#TheTournament pic.twitter.com/Gqkcf8y0Ai

— House of ‘Paign (@IlliniTBT) July 5, 2020

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MEDIA TIMEOUT - 3:23 left in 3rd - House Of Paign 48, War Tampa 36 - Andres Feliz might be the most valuable player in this game tonight. He's got 16 points on eight shots with four rebounds and War Tampa's Fletcher McGee has attempted just two shots (two points). 

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End of 3rd - House Of Paign 59, War Tampa 43 - House Of Paign outscores War Tampa 20-15 in the third quarter after Tampa made an early run. All eight House Of Paign players who have seen the floor have scored and Andres Feliz has 16 points. 

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.@Malcolmillini21, the former @IlliniMBB star, had a great season in Kazakhstan in the VTB League, a solid league. He’s likely to take a step up this coming year. He looks to be in great shape, too. UI’s 3rd all-time scorer. @IlliniTBT @thetournament

— Fran Fraschilla (@franfraschilla) July 5, 2020

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MEDIA TIMEOUT - 3:23 left in 4th - House Of Paign 68, War Tampa 49 - We're at the Elam Ending portion of this game, which is an idea I personally love. The most important guy on the floor tonight might be Mike LaTulip for being able to secure Mike Daum (21 points, 10 rebounds) for this House Of Paign team. 

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FINAL - House Of Paign 76, War Tampa 53 - House Of Paign completely dominates this first round game. The duo of Mike Daum & Andres Feliz outscores War Tampa's backcourt of Bryce Brown and Fletcher Magee 40-10. 

First TBT win in the books for @IlliniTBT 🔸🔹 pic.twitter.com/yT88z1m0Ld

— TBT (@thetournament) July 5, 2020

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UPDATE - 10 p.m. - Illini Now/Sports Illustrated has a detailed recap of House Of Paign's 76-53 win over War Tampa in first round action of The Basketball Tournament 2020. The recap includes video highlights and video post-game of head coach Mike LaTulip, Mike Daum, Andres Feliz and Malcolm Hill. 

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