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player ready...Illinois is 0-0.
Despite a great November and December–11-1, to be exact–the Fighting Illini are back to ground level. They have to prove themselves all over again, this time against conference foes with noisy arenas and long memories.
No. 13 Illinois begins its conference season Wednesday night at Minnesota (8-4, 0-0). Illini coach Lou Henson knows that rankings mean little at this point.
“I don’t get excited about it,” he said. “I get excited when we win a few road games in this league and not before.”
The Gophers are led by sophomore forward Sam Jacobson, who is averaging 15.9 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. Junior center John Thomas is chipping in 9.1 points and 5.5 rebounds per game.
Lineup change: Henson is inserting sophomore small forward Bryant Notree into the starting lineup, though it remains unclear where.
Notree probably will replace junior small forward Jerry Hester against Minnesota, which has height, and center Chris Gandy in other games.
Notree is averaging 8.7 points and 5.2 rebounds per game, while Hester has 10.7 points and 4.4 rebounds per game. Gandy has 7.2 points and 3.6 rebounds per game.
“Notree has been playing well enough to start the last three or four games,” Henson said. “After a while, when you have a guy playing better than the others, you have to start him.”
Minnesota coach Clem Haskins recognized, however, that all three are likely to get significant playing time. Illinois has been using its depth to win.
“We have to be able to contain those guys,” he said. “They all can get to the basket and that’s why I’m concerned.”
Purple and green: Purple is Northwestern’s color, but color the Wildcats’ basketball team green. Coach Ricky Byrdsong will go into Saturday’s 11 a.m. Big Ten opener at Michigan with the least experienced lineup in the conference.
Freshman Matt Moran and sophomore Joe Branch are the forwards. Evan Eschmeyer, a junior who was on the disabled list for the last two seasons, is the man in the middle. In the backcourt are sophomore Geno Carlisle and junior Jevon Johnson, whose 1994-95 season ended after nine games because of knee surgery.