It was impossible not to notice Trent Meacham’s career night Saturday against Weber State as he put up 26 points on 11-of-15 shooting from the field to lead the Illini to an easy 78-61 victory.

So much so, that Bruce Weber may decide he can’t afford to bring Meacham off the bench anymore.

“I’m not sure we can continue to do that,” Weber said after the game. “That was the philosophy mainly (because) Calvin had played well.

“We have to get a good mixture. We’re trying to figure it out.”

In any case, the guard play of the Illini on Saturday seemed to take a step in a positive direction, and amid the fanfare surrounding Meacham’s productivity was the play of the two guards flanking him on the court, Calvin Brock and Chester Frazier. Although Weber is admittedly looking for the right guard combinations on the court, including the starter at shooting guard, Saturday’s lineup worked to perfection.

Meacham, after entering the game with 17:45 left in the first half, exploded for eight of his points in four minutes, including two three-pointers. During that same four minutes, Frazier and Brock assumed complementary roles – Frazier handing out assists left and right and Brock snagging a couple rebounds.

The three guards combined to shoot 72 percent (16-of-22) from the field in the game and were catalysts in the Illini bounding to a 38-point lead.

Frazier, despite not attempting a shot during the first half, led the Illini with five assists and started the second period electric on the scoring end, sinking a three-point attempt off an assist from Meacham. He finished with eight points but led the Illini with six assists and six rebounds.

Brock, on the other hand, did his scoring in the first half by sinking his only two three-point attempts in the period. He finished the game with six points and two rebounds.

The lineup that started the second half – that saw Meacham replace Rodney Alexander – will most likely be the starting lineup that carries into the Illini’s game against Arizona on Saturday in Chicago.

“Unless the coaches say something, or Trent says, ‘I don’t want to start,'” Weber said.

Freshmen off the bench

Fifty-three of the Illini’s 78 points in the game were bench points. Meacham’s 26, of course, counted heavily toward that total. But the other 27 were scored by five freshmen in a combined 86 minutes of play.

Mike Tisdale led all freshmen with eight points, Mike Davis and Demetri McCamey tallied six apiece, Bill Cole added five, and Jeffrey Jordan had two. Richard Semrau played four minutes but didn’t score.

Jordan struggled from the field on 0-of-4 shooting but managed to add two free throws. Davis, in his first-half minutes especially, added an athletic spark with two dunks before being taken out after a technical foul for taunting.

“I think it’s been a pretty good class,” Weber said. “I don’t know if they have a dominant guy yet, but they’ve been pretty productive up to this point. Obviously Mike Davis is a surprise – nobody knew him.

“But the other part is Bill Cole,” Weber added. “He has a better feel and a knack of knowing where to go and stuff like that. He’s surprised our coaching staff.”

Where is Shaun Pruitt?

Mike Tisdale’s emergence as a scoring threat came about, in part, because senior center Shaun Pruitt disappeared during stretches against Weber State.

The 6-foot-10 Pruitt has struggled to start the season and hasn’t been the consistent scoring threat many expected him to be as a preseason first team All Big-Ten selection.

He was 4-of-16 against Maryland on Wednesday and scored six points and grabbed four rebounds Saturday.

“He’s put a lot of high expectations upon himself; instead of just relaxing and letting the game come he’s forcing things,” Weber said. “He didn’t get a whole bunch of touches. But that’s fine, you can still play and do some other things that help the team. That’s what I’ve tried to emphasize.”