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Weber watches Penn State tape; How will Illini respond at Ohio State?

Posted by: Paul Klee

Friday, February 20, 2009 4:06 PM

Hours after Penn State and Illinois combined for one of the worst offensive games in NCAA history, Bruce Weber had a decision to make.

Watch the game again, or forget it happened.

He chose the more painful option.

"I've seen in two times," the Illinois coach said today.

First, Weber said he watched the replay of the 38-33 loss on the Big Ten Network, at 1 a.m. Thursday morning.

"I didn't sleep one minute the other night," he said. "I know the sun rise took a long time, about five hours to come up."

The head coach wasn't the only Illini with a steel stomach.

"I actually watched it that night on Big Ten Network, the rerun. I don't know if it was a good idea, but I watched it," senior Trent Meacham said today. "Hopefully we can learn from it."

- The Illini play at Ohio State on Sunday (Noon, CBS). Win, and you might just wrap up a berth in the NCAA tournament. Lose, and the palms show the first signs of getting sweaty. The resume looks solid enough now, but the Illinois coaches don't believe the team has done enough to feel confident of an NCAA berth.

"If we get 23 or 24 (wins, including the Big Ten tournament), I would feel comfortable," said Weber, whose team goes to Columbus at 21-6 overall and 9-5 in the Big Ten.

- The question now becomes, How will Illinois respond?

"I hope it's a motivator, a little bit of a sense of urgency, a little bit of a fear factor," Weber said. "Some of them are very, I don't know the word, they're a little bit laidback, casual, nonchalant. I think it helps them in some aspects, but in other aspects you need a little bit of nervousness, the bubbles in your stomach, the knot in your stomach."

- As I type, the Illini are finishing up a brief but intense practice session here at Ubben. Illinois goes to Ohio State having not won there since March 2004 - the tail end of assistant coach Jerrance Howard's senior season as a player.

"We better respond pretty quickly," Meacham said. "We've got a tough game (Sunday). We've got to get that out of our system and move on and move forward and hopefully be better on Sunday."

- Sophomore Demetri McCamey said he's getting healthy after a weeklong bout with flu-like symptoms.

"Wednesday, the game we played, I was just out there. I can only remember so much," McCamey said today. "It was just crazy. Headaches. I played, so even if I step on that court, I still have to give it my all. That's not an exception, being sick."

McCamey practiced today at Ubben and is expected to play Sunday.