The message was on the lips of the Illinois players and coaches almost as soon as they finished off Tuesday’s win over Michigan State: Minnesota is the new Penn State.

Last year, an unheralded Penn State team came into Assembly Hall and upset the Illini, ending their 34-game home winning streak and putting a serious dent on the team’s NCAA tournament resume. Now, as the team tries to make a final run just to get into the tournament, Minnesota could present a similar home-court trap.

“We’ve talked about that Penn State game over and over and how it cost us,” Weber said. “Any game over this stretch could be the difference (between) us having a special season … or just kind of being inconsistent.”

Illinois beat Minnesota 64-52 in Minneapolis earlier this season and have won 16 straight against the Gophers.

But Minnesota has played well in recording back-to-back wins over Penn State and Northwestern, and the Illini will come in with several key players dragging. Weber said point guard Chester Frazier was unlikely to play with a variety of injuries, and Brian Randle will again be limited by plantar fasciitis in his foot.

Weber said the constant string of injuries has been the most frustrating part of this up-and-down season, and said the team’s MVP was Al Martingale, their director of sports medicine. “I don’t think there’s any doubt, you don’t have your players, you can’t practice, you can’t make improvements,” Weber said. “I’ve always prided myself on being a good practice coach. We’re doing things now that we should have got done in October, November, but we just haven’t had people consistently at practice. It just seems to be a continuous cycle where we never make progress.”

Warren Carter was the key for the Illini in the first game against Minnesota, scoring 17 points on 7-12 shooting while racking up 11 rebounds and five assists. He’s been inconsistent since then, averaging 10 points and five rebounds over four games.

“Other years we didn’t need (Carter), and so if he didn’t have a sense of urgency, we just let him be,” Weber said. “And now we need him, and we need him to have a sense of urgency. He’s shown some signs of that, but lately … he has not been as consistent as I would have hoped. He can’t be in show mode, he’s got to be in intense mode.”

Weber drilled the need for intensity into his team even in the locker room after the Michigan State win.

By the time center Shaun Pruitt and guard Rich McBride came out to talk to the media, they had already been warned not to take Minnesota lightly.

“We just have to take care of business and not have a letdown like we did early in the season,” Pruitt said. “We’ve just got to play each game like it’s Ohio State and Wisconsin and we’ll be good.”