CHAMPAIGN — This is how the pattern works.
Illinois wins a few games in a row. It plays well, and starts to feel good about itself. Then, the lull sets in. The Illini get complacent, rest on their laurels and fall into a funk for a few games until they snap out of it and repeat the dance again.
Now that the Illini have won three consecutive games after crushing Northwestern 88-63 Thursday, will 20th-ranked Illinois (13-3, 3-0) take a game off or two? The Illini have Penn State Tuesday — a team that may not require Illinois’ best effort.
After beating NU, center Mike Tisdale seemed resolute not to let that happen.
“You can’t lose focus,” he said. “You can’t be too high right now. We’re notorious for kind of letting down after that.”
After the pattern crept up and bit Illinois in December with losses to Illinois- Chicago and Missouri, Tisdale said he hoped the Illini learned from those mistakes.
“The last couple of years, we dealt with that too much,” Tisdale said. “Coach (Bruce Weber) has been talking about it the last couple of days. Hopefully we matured enough to fix that problem and not let it happen again.”
Illinois has an impressive six players score in double figures against Northwestern, including freshmen Jereme Richmond and Meyers Leonard, who each scored 11 points.
Weber played most of his bench the final nine minutes of the game. It was a sloppy stretch, but one that provided a teachable moment for Weber and the coaching staff.
“Some of it, the turnovers at the end, I’m not sure if the guys are trying to execute the offense or are trying to make the tough play,” Weber said.
Layup: Against Northwestern’s zone defenses, forward Mike Davis supported Demetri McCamey’s role as the main distributor. Davis and McCamey each ended up with seven assists, a career high for Davis as he hit cutting teammates all night. “We had the high-low working early in the first half,” Davis said. “I have to credit my teammates for making shots.”
