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| U.SportsThursday, March 6, 2008 10:57 PM CST |
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Illini trying to make most of losing season
CHAMPAIGN — The Big Ten Conference championship brawl has become a three-team race with Wisconsin now holding a slight edge over Purdue and Indiana. A fourth team — Michigan State — could have been in the chase, if not for a pair of head-scratching road losses that still haunt the Spartans. | Big Ten scores, stats Illinois hopes to hand Michigan State another nightmare away from home this evening when the teams tangle at the Assembly Hall. The No. 17 Spartans are 23-6 on the season, and four of the losses are easy to explain. There was a 68-63 loss to then-No. 2 UCLA on a neutral floor back in November. There were conference losses at Purdue, at Indiana and at Wisconsin. Those were losses against nationally ranked teams. The defeats that are more difficult to understand came when Michigan State lost 43-36 at Iowa on Jan. 12 and 85-76 at Penn State on Feb. 2. Michigan State’s 36-point output against Iowa is particularly noteworthy considering the Spartans scored 103 points Sunday in a 29-point rout of the Hoosiers. “That will be a game tape that gets burned,” Michigan State coach Tom Izzo seethed after the Iowa loss. “It was a total breakdown by just about every player on our team.” One game before the Indiana blowout, the Spartans scored just 42 points in a 15-point loss at Wisconsin. And they scored just 51 while beating the Illini in late January in East Lansing, Mich. So although the Spartans are capable of playing with great efficiency, consistency on offense has been an issue. Illini coach Bruce Weber said Sunday’s performance, in which Michigan State shot nearly 78 percent in the first half, showed the Spartans at their best. “They looked like a Final Four team,” Weber said. “Tom would like to push the ball a little more and give freedom to his freshmen (including super-quick guard Kalin Lucas). “A big key has been Drew Neitzel,” Weber said, talking about the senior guard who was the Big Ten’s preseason Player of the Year. “When he has shot the ball well and played at a high level, that eases the burden on the freshmen. “If they are going to make a successful run in the postseason, they need Neitzel to get hot. Maybe those young kids are starting to get some confidence. “If they push the ball and use Lucas’ quickness, they could make a nice run in the tournament.” For the first time since 1999, Illinois is not realistically looking to make the NCAA Tournament. Only a surprise title in the Big Ten Tournament next week in Indianapolis could make that happen, and Weber is still urging his team to give that a shot. Beating Michigan State would be a nice boost, even if it is too little, too late. “Everyone realizes it’s a disappointing season,” Weber said this week. “I told the guys after we beat Iowa Saturday that the way we played there, and the way we played in certain other games, is the way we should have played all season. But we didn’t, and we have to deal with the circumstances we have. “We should still make the most of it. Let’s see if we can have a great finish. We haven’t played as well as we want at home, so it would be nice to perform well these last two games for the seniors and our fans who have stuck by us. “And who knows? You get in the Big Ten Tournament, and crazy things have happened. Maybe we come in without any pressure and make a run.” Illinois is expected to be without Brian Randle, who is still recovering from a separated shoulder. Weber wouldn’t say it’s 100 percent certain that Randle is out this evening, but he said an appearance in Saturday’s senior day home finale against Minnesota is more likely. E-mail this story | Print this story | Search archives | RSS Show comments |  Hide comments | Hide comments on all stories |
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M wrote on Mar 6, 2008 3:55 PM:
IlliniAlumni wrote on Mar 6, 2008 3:39 PM:
voice of reason wrote on Mar 6, 2008 12:45 PM:
anelson33 wrote on Mar 6, 2008 11:25 AM:
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