After spending the first half of the Big Ten season in the second division, Illinois moved into fifth place Saturday night with a 59-49 victory over Minnesota.
That may be a humble spot for a team that since 2000-01 has won or shared four conference titles and finished second the other two times, but every step is crucial if the injury-ravaged Illini (17-8, 5-5) are to make it back to the NCAA tournament.
Interim coach Jim Molinari’s Gophers (9-14, 3-6) came to Assembly Hall with a two-game winning streak and they gave the Illini a hard time early in the first half.
As expected, point guard Chester Frazier, the hero of Wednesday’s conquest of Michigan State, was out of the Illinois lineup, recuperating from the assortment of injuries to his feet, groin and thigh.
But fellow sophomore guard Jamar Smith was able to play after missing Thursday’s practice because of the flu and he combined with senior Rich McBride to give Illinois a strong outside attack that complemented the continued strong play of junior Shaun Pruitt in the low post.
Smith and McBride had 13 points apiece and Pruitt scored 10. Also in double figures was senior forward Warren Carter with 10.
Smith came off the bench and snapped out of a 5-for-48 shooting slump to sink an outside shot and a pair of three-pointers in leading the Illini to a 29-25 lead at the break.
“All my teammates and my coaches had confidence in me and told me to keep shooting,” said Smith, who was 5 of 10 from the field, including 3 of 7 from beyond the three-point arc.
The first of his three-point baskets came during an 11-3 first-half run that helped the Illini regain the lead after falling behind 17-15. They never trailed thereafter.
Early in the second half, the Gophers’ offense did a disappearing act.
They fell behind by 21 points before making a belated counterattack.
Minnesota made only 31.5 percent of its shots.
“They made us take contested shots,” Molinari said. “We couldn’t go by them and we couldn’t get the ball inside.”
Junior forward Dan Coleman led the Gophers with 13 points. Sophomore center Jonathan Williams had 10 points and eight rebounds.
Illinois trainer Al Martindale’s recommendation to sit Frazier brought to 23 the number of games Illini players have missed this season. Twenty of the absences have been because of injuries.
Not included on the list is forward Rich Semrau, whose season ended after six games because of chest surgery.
He plans to appeal to the NCAA for medical redshirt status, which would make him a freshman again next season.
Coach Bruce Weber has employed seven different lineups this season, in contrast to 2004-05 when he used an identical starting lineup for all 37 games and last season when he used the same starting lineup for 32 of 33.
“If you don’t have your players [at practice] you can’t make improvements,” Weber said earlier in the week. “I’ve always prided myself on being a good practice coach, getting the kids to learn how to play hard and compete and getting little things [accomplished] as the season goes on.
“We’re doing things now we should have gotten done in October and November but we just haven’t had people consistently at practice. It just seems to be a continuous cycle where we never make progress.”
In the last two games there have been signs of progress but the Illini now go on the road. They play Wednesday at Northwestern and Saturday at Indiana.
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nmilbert@tribune.com
