In only his ninth season as a head coach, Bruce Weber has joined elite company. With Illinois’ 87-59 victory over IUPUI (3-5) on Wednesday, Weber won his 200th career game. Entering the season, Weber stood at 192 wins, the third most in NCAA history by a coach after his first eight seasons. Up to this point, Weber has accumulated 72 loses.

With a win Illinois avoided losing three consecutive games, a streak the team has never suffered under the leadership of Weber.

Staying on the winning track is more important to Weber than picking up the milestone victory – an achievement that took three tries to get after losses to Maryland and Arizona. Last week, Weber didn’t even know he was going for his 200th victory until a friend called, he said.

The win, though, didn’t have any extra significance, he said.

“Not really; I wish it would have been last week, to be honest,” Weber said.

“I had a pretty good run at Southern Illinois, pretty good run here, but I’m worried about Saturday (against UIC) and seeing if we can go undefeated through Christmas and make some progress.”

Senior forward Warren Carter, who put together back-to-back 20-point performances for the first time in his career Wednesday, thought Weber’s 200th win was a credit to his career.

“He’s a great coach, he’s done so much for all the programs he’s been affiliated with,” Carter said. “I hate that it took us three games – we had two tough losses – but I think it’s good to get it on the home court for him.”

Solid three-point shooting

After shooting 33.3 percent (7-of-21 shooting) from three-point range against then-No. 16 Arizona on Saturday in Phoenix, Illinois got back on track behind the arc. In the first half, senior guard Rich McBride, 3-for-10 from the field against Arizona, drilled three first-half three-point baskets to go along with another three in the second half.

But McBride wasn’t the only one shooting well from long range. Sophomore guard Jamar Smith couldn’t miss from distance – finishing 5-for-5. Add in Trent Meacham’s 3-for-4 effort from beyond the line and the Illini had a good-natured rivalry in the works. Each successive shot gave the Illini players a confidence that had been missing the last few weeks.

“Whenever me and (Rich) played against each other in practice we kind of looked at each other, and after he hit one, he would look at me and then I would hit one and look at him,” Smith said. “It just pretty much kept going on all night.”

When asked who won the battle from beyond the arc, McBride said, “He won because he didn’t miss, you can’t beat that.”

Semrau out indefinitely after surgery

After suffering a serious contusion to his chest lining nearly two weeks ago, freshman forward Richard Semrau had surgery Wednesday to remove an internal infection. Semrau, a Grafton, Ohio, native will be out indefinitely after successful surgery at Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana. Semrau will remain in the hospital for the next three to four days, and as of Tuesday, had already lost 19 pounds, Weber said.

“It’s sad for the kid; it’s horrible for him,” Weber said. “The worst is school; freshman year is stressful enough and it’s a tough situation.”

Quote of the game:

“Warren thinks I’m on him all the time, but I’m trying to get him to realize how good he is. I got on him (Tuesday) and he said, ‘You’re still on me,’ and I said, ‘Yeah, get 30 (points) and 15 (rebounds) next game and be all-conference, why not?’ I think he has the ability to do that.”

– Weber on Warren Carter