Bruce Weber was coaching Saturday and Dave Weber coached Friday, because that’s what their late mother Dawn would have wanted. While the job Illinois did Saturday was not pretty, it was blue-collar – the way Weber learned how to play. Illinois finished off the Golden Gophers 64-56.

Friday night Illinois players learned that their coach would be there with them for Saturday’s game. He was missing from their pre-game walkthrough in the team’s hotel, but was not missing from their thoughts.

“It’s so close to home,” forward James Augustine said. “We are like a family, this team is like a family, and we look up to Weber as sort of a father figure. We are all with him.”

With the pressure of winning one for the coach, the Illini came out sloppy. The United Center honored Dawn Weber with a moment of silence, and it tipped the team’s emotions to over-drive.

“I told the team that I am going to coach hard, you’re going to have to play hard and that’s how she would have wanted it,” Weber said. “We came out with too much emotion; we were just going too fast, turned the ball over; we played very uncharacteristic.”

From the beginning of the game, it looked like by pressing, the Illini forced themselves into mistakes and then came down too hard on themselves after committing them. Minnesota jumped out early on the Illini, building a seven point-lead, but was never able to assert itself because of the Illini’s relentless tenacity on defense and on the boards.

Illinois eventually settled down around the 10-minute mark of the first half and took its first lead on a Luther Head three-pointer.

“That is something coach tells us,” said emotional leader Roger Powell Jr. “He tells us to hit the boards hard, James and I, the other bigs and even the guards as well. We were able to hit the boards today.”

Minnesota was out-rebounded by 12, but never fell too far away to sniff the championship game. The Gophers were fighting for their tournament life.

Illinois never strung together the big run to bury the Gophers, but made the necessary plays down the stretch to win the game, mostly from the inside. Led by Augustine, who finished with 11 points and 14 rebounds, the aggression in the block never let up.

With the win, Illinois matched its best season ever. Win No. 31 ties this year’s team with the 1989 Flyin’ Illini.