A month ago, Illinois’ seniors felt like they were carrying the team. James Augustine and Dee Brown struggled to pull their weight – and that of their teammates – as the Illini tread a rocky path to their now 25-5 record.

“They had to perform at a high level,” Illinois head coach Bruce Weber said Monday. “We couldn’t take them out because you didn’t know what was going to happen. It became a burden for them, and they weren’t playing well either at that point.”

To Augustine it seemed like he was the lone player in Illinois’ frontcourt. Guards Rich McBride and Jamar Smith occasionally stood out up top, but Augustine’s fellow forwards were not having the same kind of success.

But a few minutes into Saturday’s game against Michigan State, Augustine hit the bench and Warren Carter saw significant time while Augustine’s knee was checked out and iced. By the time Augustine was ready to head back to the court, Carter had shown that Illinois’ bench might be deeper than it appears.

“The bench has to feel good about what they’ve done over the last few weeks,” Weber said. “If they can go in there and be productive and we can win the game, it’s going to help us going into Saturday’s game and possibly Sunday’s game.”

With Illinois tackling the last game Friday and potentially the first on Saturday, the team will need its bench to continue standing strong. But Weber said while he’s worried about keeping his starters physically rested, he’s also looking to keep the team mentally prepped for the strenuous month.

“There’s physical wellness, but there’s also mental wellness, feeling good about yourself. We hit a nice spurt here at the end, so I kind of think they feel good about themselves,” Weber said. “If you’re going to make that run over three games, you’ve got to have something in the tank as you get into Saturday and Sunday.”

Lowery Love

Former Illinois assistant coach Chris Lowery led the Southern Illinois men’s basketball team to the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament championship and an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament.

Bruce Weber, who hired Lowery as an assistant at Southern in 2002, said he couldn’t be happier for his successor, who followed Weber to Illinois for a single season before taking over the Salukis reigns.

“He’s just happy about himself, winning that thing. 618 popped up on my phone quite a bit (Sunday),” Weber said. “I’m very proud, very excited. It’s still guys I recruited, and obviously Chris is one of my guys.”

More awards for Dee

Dee Brown added to his list of awards Tuesday, picking up recognition from three organizations.

Brown earned second-team honors from the U.S. Basketball Writers Association. He was chosen as one of 11 finalists for the Adolf F. Rupp Player of the Year Award, given out by the Commonwealth Athletic Club of Kentucky.

He was also chosen by SI.com writer Seth Davis as part of the All-Big Ten team.