ST. LOUIS — Illinois already found out it was on Santa’s naughty list this year.
As coach Bruce Weber said, Saturday’s loss to Illinois- Chicago was shocking, like getting a lump of coal for Christmas.
“I think we got that lump of coal in our throat, our stomach and a bunch of other places,” Weber said. “Like I said, the question is how we respond to it.”
Last season, whenever the Illini lost, they didn’t respond very well. The Illini lost 15 games last season and only twice did they follow defeat with a victory. Every other time, aside from their final defeat in the NIT to Dayton, they lost their next game.
“That can’t happen this year,” senior forward Mike Davis said. “We have too many good players, too many older guys on the team for that to happen.”
It’s a trend Illinois was able to break earlier this season when it defeated Maryland a day after losing to Texas. But it might prove a little harder to bounce back Wednesday, when the No. 21 Illini take on No. 9 Missouri and its frantic full-court pressure in the annual Braggin’ Rights game that likely will Illinois’ toughest yet.
“The seniors have to be leaders,” Davis said. “These freshmen haven’t seen anything like this. It’s going to seem like there are six guys guarding you.”
Davis includes himself in the category of those who need to step up. He and senior Mike Tisdale had one of their worst games of the season against UIC. And Weber said this week he would consider cutting their playing time if they stopped producing.
“If those guys don’t play well, then we have to look to play other guys minutes,” Weber said.
The main question is — are the Illini a tougher team overall that they were a year ago? Lose Wednesday and the negative momentum gains speed at the wrong time — just before Big Ten play begins.
“Nobody’s worried about the UIC loss anymore. It happened,” senior guard Demetri McCamey said. “We just said, ‘Don’t let it turn into two.’ We’ll try to battle Wednesday and if we win this nobody will remember that game in the end.”
The players sense what is at stake. After losing to UIC, the team had a players-only meeting to clear the air with each other. They think the edge they had earlier in the season is back.
“But you really don’t know until game time,” Davis said.
