Bruce Weber talked more like a defense attorney than a coach Saturday at Conseco Fieldhouse.
The NCAA tournament selection committee, sequestered in a hotel a few blocks away, may not even hear Weber’s defense of his team’s resume before it decides Illinois’ seed for the NCAA tournament Sunday.
The Illini head into that tourney with question marks at guard and three losses in their last four games, including Saturday’s not-that-close 66-56 loss to Purdue in the Big Ten tournament semifinals.
“We’ve won games on the road, we beat Purdue twice, we won at Ohio State, we’ve played good basketball all year,” Weber said of his 24-9 team.
“There are a lot of teams that lost, and Kansas didn’t even win its first game [in the Big 12 tournament]. Washington … UCLA … North Carolina lost today. We didn’t play well. But we’re not the only team in the country that got beat today or yesterday.”
Illinois appears headed to a No. 4 or No. 5 regional seed. The NCAA attempts to avoid sending 4s and 5s to any site where it could be at a road disadvantage in the first round, so anything less would be a disappointment.
The Illini can only hope their victory over Michigan in the quarterfinals convinced the committee they can win without starting guard Chester Frazier. He watched the Big Ten tournament with his injured right hand in a cast and could miss the NCAA tournament.
Weber acknowledged he missed Frazier against Purdue, which built a 22-point lead early in the second half before coasting to victory as Weber spread the playing time among backups.
“Both games [against Purdue, Frazier] got into the paint, dished it to people,” Weber said. “The first time at their place we [had 21 assists, seven by Frazier], and six turnovers the whole game. Today we had six turnovers in the first 10 minutes. So that’s where he’s a stabilizing factor.”
The other starting guard, Demetri McCamey, was scoreless, and Weber played him only 20 minutes.
“He wasn’t very aggressive,” Weber said.
“I didn’t play well at all, so I understand why I was on the bench,” said McCamey, the Illini’s leading scorer at 11.5 points per game.
Calvin Brock started for Frazier and scored 12 points. Forward Dominique Keller came off the bench to lead Illinois with 16 points.
Frazier’s injury turned this game into a case of role reversal.
Purdue’s Robbie Hummel was not at full strength for the Illini’s conference-opening victory at West Lafayette and didn’t play at Champaign, both times because of an injured back.
The Illini couldn’t contain Hummel, who scored 14 points in the first half as Purdue took a 37-17 lead to the locker room. He finished with 19 points and 12 rebounds, and center JaJuan Johnson was dominant inside with 20 points. It’s the kind of 1-2 combination the Illini could run into quickly in the NCAA tournament.
“We have no choice but to regroup,” guard Trent Meacham said.
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tabannon@tribune.com
