Illinois does not want to lose to the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Warhawks this time.

The Illini men’s wheelchair basketball team hosts a round-robin tournament at the Intramural Physical Education Building this weekend.

The three men’s teams involved are Illinois, Whitewater and Edinboro University. The Illini play the Warhawks at 6 p.m. on Friday and 9 a.m. on Saturday and also play Edinboro at 12:15 p.m. and 5:15 p.m. on Saturday.

Head coach Mike Frogley noted that the post players have to step up this weekend if they want to avenge the loss against Whitewater.

“They have to do a good job of keeping (Whitewater’s) big guys out of the paint,” Frogley said.

The Illini will use a three-man rotation, playing two post players at once.

Forward Matt Buchi, part of that three-man rotation, believes the Illini will have to do more than just accomplish the schemes and plays planned out from watching video.

“(Whitewater) will definitely be physical and attacking all the time,” Buchi said. “Whitewater is a very aggressive team, so we want to bring it right back to them.”

Buchi says he will benefit from playing alongside starting center Lars Spenger.

Not only will Spenger help out with the inside game against Whitewater, but he is a stabilizer for the team.

“It’s great playing with Lars just because of his presence, and (since Whitewater’s) largest defender is always with him, it gives me a lot more space to be physical on the inside,” Buchi said. “He also helps out our ball-handlers because they’re able to bring the ball to his side.”

Frogley admits that the Warhawks are bigger and stronger than the Illini.

To help compensate, starting guard Paul Ward said all of the guards have to do their parts in order to help contain the Warhawks’ big players, especially Joe Chambers, their starting center.

“We will try to shadow him a little bit one-on-one just to tire him out,” Ward said. “When (Whitewater) enters the half court, we try to keep him close to the three point line so he can’t get setup.”

Also, The Illini should not look past Edinboro because that team is among the top three or four in the nation, according to Buchi.

“Edinboro is a team that at first glance doesn’t seem like that difficult of a team and that powerful of a team, but as I’m watching them, they have quite lethal shooters,” Buchi said. “Edinboro tries all 40 minutes.”

Frogley agrees with Buchi.

“Edinboro is dripping with confidence right now,” Frogley said. “These games are important for us to not only get familiar with how we want to play them, but to establish a bit of a psychological advantage over them too. If we can beat them a few times by a decent margin, we’ll feel like we own them.”

Frogley is happy that the Illini now get to play the tough teams at home, and he believes having the home-court advantage will be the difference, expecting to defeat Whitewater this time.

Some teams like to wait until later in the season to start playing difficult games, but not Frogley.

“I love these kinds of games because they’re measuring sticks for us,” Frogley said. “I’ve always believed that if you want to be a big dog, you’ve got to play the big dogs, and right now Whitewater is the top college team in the nation.”