Two months ago, Illinois opened its Big Ten season with a thrilling 60-50 home win against Michigan State. It was a game that started the Illini, then ranked No. 6 to the Spartans’ No. 7, on a rocky road towards Big Ten title contention.

In beating Northwestern on Wednesday, however, Ohio State secured itself at least a share of the Big Ten title and the best position in the conference going into selection Sunday. So when Illinois closes its Big Ten season by playing Michigan State tomorrow, the Illini will need to find new motivation to pull off a tough upset on the Spartans’ senior night.

“We’ve got to take care of our business; we can’t worry about other people,” Illinois forward James Augustine said.

No. 10 Illinois faces No. 25 Michigan State at 11 a.m. in East Lansing, Mich. The Illini will need big men like Augustine to step up and create match-up problems for the Spartans, who may go with the four-guard lineup they used against Indiana and Ohio State.

“I’m not sure if they’re going to go small or not,” Illinois head coach Bruce Weber said. “If that does happen, we’re going to have to take advantage of getting the ball in to James and Shaun.”

Augustine is just nine boards short of collecting 1,000 rebounds, which would put him among the Big Ten’s biggest record holders. On Saturday he could become the first athlete in conference history to score 1,000 points and collect 1,000 boards.

The senior is averaging 12.8 points and 9.1 rebounds per game this season.

“The names that are associated with the Big Ten history, it’s a who’s who of basketball,” Weber said. “It’s just amazing for James to have his name associated with it. He probably doesn’t know any of the players, but he should be so proud that he’s among the elite of Big Ten and college basketball.”

Augustine’s fellow forwards Shaun Pruitt, Warren Carter and Marcus Arnold will also need to have big games against the Spartans. The frontcourt is averaging 40.6 points per game on 66.7 percent shooting over the last five contests.

Augustine said his teammates have gotten comfortable with their games and are peaking at the right point in the season.

“Shaun’s confidence is at such a higher level now,” Augustine said. “He’s been making great post moves. Once he gets going he’s able to keep it going the rest of the game.

“Marcus has been carrying us on his back the last couple games. I think if (Illinois’ forwards) miss their first shot, now they’re going back on defense, making post moves and getting a shot again.”

Defensively, Illinois’ main focus will be on shutting down Michigan State’s Drew Neitzel. Without Neitzel, Weber said, the Spartans will struggle to put together a solid performance.

Weber said the Illini will also focus on slowing down the Spartans’ offense.

“The one thing we did here, we really limited their transition points,” Weber said. “When I watched it last night, they got a couple early, but it was limited transition.”

While Illinois could be worried about losing its chance at an outright conference championship, they are instead looking to finish the season strong.

“I said this last year,” Augustine said. “How you finish at the end is what counts.”