The next game that Illinois loses will be its last; Dee Brown and James Augustine will get no second chance. Bruce Weber, as well as the rest of Illini nation realize this and hope that the rest of the squad grew up a lot after the loss to Michigan State.

Besides Illinois’ two seniors, nobody else on the team has had meaningful tournament experience. It’s a strange feeling for an athlete to be put on a monumental stage and know in the back of your head that if you don’t play your best you are going home for good. During the regular season, a loss just means extra time in the gym and a chance to bounce back a few days later; a loss in a tournament setting means there is no tomorrow, and the next tournament loss means tears.

“I think it’s great tournament experience,” head coach Bruce Weber said of the Illini’s loss to Michigan State on Friday. “I hope they hurt a little bit. This is a dress rehearsal for the NCAA. The next time we lose we go home. We don’t get to play again. I think it is a good experience for our guys. I hope it is. Our bench was very instrumental in our stretch at the end of the year helping us get some wins. (Friday) they weren’t quite as productive.”

The Illini’s young players have grown up a lot during the year – still calling Jamar Smith and Chester Frazier freshmen is a crime. But as far as tournament experience goes, they have zero. And March is a horse of a different color. You can come with intensity, maybe the same mindset that got you 20+ wins during the regular season, but if you don’t get your game up you find yourself on a bus back home.

One noticeable effect of inexperience is the re-emergence of the stagnant offense. When Illinois won its last three games against very good competition, people were finally celebrating the offense. The team was hitting its shots, making the extra pass and moving well without the ball.

Against Michigan State it went back to looking lost and taking strange shots with the shot clock running out. You can chalk this up to the nerves of inexperience – James and Dee played their role, for the most part, but the rest of the team was trying not to make a mistake instead of playing ball and having fun.

Initially the team was put into a tough spot with its draw, playing a good team for the third time and the second time in the course of a week. Illinois had won the first two games of this matchup on national television, and most of the Spartan players had never beaten Illinois because of Illinois’ recent dominance.

There was a lot fueling the Spartans, but the Illini had to pick up their energy to match them. Despite inexperience, you could see that the Illini wanted the win, but Michigan State wanted it more. Weber will not accept losing that way; he is never happy with a loss but if his team just got outclassed he can move on, when the Illini get outworked, their head coach blows a gasket.

When asked about a comment Dee made concerning Weber going crazy on them at halftime, Bruce responded with a very frustrated and telling quote.

“I’ve had to do it too much this year. Once in a while out of a 30 -game season you go nuts a few times, every team needs a kick in the behind to get going,” Weber said. “You wake up in the morning and some days you need that extra juice to get going. I shouldn’t have to do that in this type of setting. Conseco Fieldhouse, a great crowd, orange everywhere, you’re playing Michigan State and I have to go off to play at another level. That’s probably why we’re are not a one or two seed, that’s why we didn’t win the Big Ten Championship, and that’s why we are going home. Next time the season’s over.”

Dee wasn’t in the room to hear his coach’s upset rant, but he didn’t have to. With his head down he thought about what was at stake in the upcoming NCAA Tournament and agreed with his coach. He said he had no idea why the team couldn’t match the intensity, but had something more.

“I guarantee in the NCAA we’ll have a better showing.”

Ian Gold is a senior in Communications. He can be reached at [email protected].