When Illinois faces Northwestern today, the Illini will not be looking past the Wildcats, who are 15-15 overall and 6-10 in the Big Ten.

At the same time, however, the Illini will be thinking about the games to come.

Illinois head coach Bruce Weber said it would be important to his team’s success that non-starters produce good things off the bench.

While throughout the season he has been looking to sophomore forward Rich McBride to provide quality minutes, Weber said McBride had not had much success in recent games.

“It would be nice to have him in there and hit a couple shots, but we were most disappointed when he went in there and he just broke down in the first half,” Weber said of McBride’s play against Ohio State.

“One of the best things he’s done is being solid on defense,” Weber said.

The problem is partially due to McBride feeling sick the past few weeks.

“That week really took a toll on him,” Weber said.

Weber also anticipates needing sophomore Warren Carter to put in significant time.

McBride often gets into games before Carter does, but Carter played first against Ohio State, in part because of his better performance in practice.

“I try to give the guys that have been successful in the long period, that have done it in practice, I try to give them the first chance,” Weber said. “But the last couple games Warren has played better.”

Brown, Head earn

All-American honors

The United State Basketball Writers Association announced its 2005 All-American teams Wednesday, and two Illini guards were among those honored.

Junior Dee Brown was named to the five-player first team and senior Luther Head made the second team.

Brown leads the Big Ten in three-point shooting and has made 82 treys this season, the second-best number in conference.

Head averages 16.1 points per game and leads the Big Ten with 85 threes to date.

Other first team players were Andrew Bogut (Utah), Chris Paul (Wake Forest), J.J. Redick (Duke) and Wayne Simien (Kansas).

The second team included Ike Diogu (Arizona State), Sean May (North Carolina), Salim Stoudamire (Arizona) and Hakim Warrick (Syracuse).

Ready to Rumble

This is the third year Illinois has entered the Big Ten tournament as the No. 1 seed. Illinois was the top seed in 2001, when it tied Michigan for the conference title, and in 2004, when the Illini were outright Big Ten champions.

The Illini are ready to take on the conference and add another ring to their collection, but are still wary of tiring out before the NCAA tournament begins.

“I think it’s a neat event,” Illinois head coach Bruce Weber said. “The only thing, maybe, is that we might have to play Sunday. Especially if you play on Thursday, it’s a quick turnaround.”

Illinois has the most Big Ten tournament final appearances in the conference, appearing in four of seven championship games.