Thus far this season, Illinois’ track record of opening the game with the same amount of energy it displays after halftime has been lacking. Its contest against Texas A&M; on Sunday afternoon was no different. Trailing by as many as eight points in the first half, Illinois solved Texas A&M;’s zone defense, and behind the hot shooting of Trent Meacham, went on to win 84-63 at the Assembly Hall.

After a pair of Rome Sanders free throws, the Rattlers cut the Illini lead to 64-57 with 8:29 to play. But a 20-6 run to close out the game secured Illinois its fourth win. In the second half, the Illini scored on 20 of 21 possessions, turning a 45-41 deficit into an 81-59 advantage.

“We tell them to understand your opponent,” Bruce Weber said of a Rattlers’ roster that features five Chicago-area natives. “They’re Chicago kids, Peoria kids, Indianapolis kids – they’re so fired up to come in here, and they played like that. They played at the magic level; we finally played at the magic level in the second half.”

Added sophomore guard Chester Frazier: “We really didn’t have an answer for (their zone defense). Trent was the only guy making shots. We kind of came back at halftime and the emphasis was energy, and we came out in the second half with a lot of energy.”

Meacham, a Champaign native, scored a career-high 24 points (4-of-7 from three-point range), to go along with four assists – and continued to make the most of his starting role.

“We knew he could shoot, but to do it in a game condition when you’ve got a little bit of a gut-check game, it’s good to see,” Weber said.

Sophomore guard Calvin Brock finished with career-high totals in points (18), rebounds (10) and assists (7). Frazier added 13 points, a career-high 10 assists and seven rebounds. More importantly, Frazier had only one turnover.

“I would take that every game,” Weber said. “And obviously 10-to-1 is pretty good; at least we’re making some progress.”

Sanders led the Rattlers with 22 points, while Leslie Robinson added 15 points.

Although Illinois fought its way back into the game, Weber’s disappointment at his team’s lack of energy in the first half was apparent. Calling the Illini’s first-half performance “listless,” Weber will be looking for a quicker start when Illinois hosts Savannah State at 7 p.m. on Tuesday at the Assembly Hall.

Senior guard Rich McBride, who has been serving a six-game suspension for a DUI arrest, will return to the Illinois lineup.

“Somebody’s got to be the vocal leader and that’s the one thing that Dee (Brown) always brought,” Weber said about the lack of communication on the court. “He was always jibber-jabbering and getting guys fired up, and we’ve got to have somebody do that.”