No junior on the Illinois men’s basketball team had a tougher preseason than Dominique Keller.

Out of sync in drills and confused about assignments, Keller struggled to learn the nuances of Illinois’ offensive and defensive schemes. After spending the last two seasons at Lee College in Texas playing against community college players, Keller had a lot to deal with.

“He’s got a thousand things coming at him,” Illinois head coach Bruce Weber said.

“How we guard a down-screen, how we guard a ball-screen, how we run motion. The one thing he stopped doing was playing hard. I thought (Sunday) he played hard, he ran the court, he battled.”

Keller scored 11 points and grabbed four rebounds in 15 minutes in the team’s second regular-season win against Texas A&M-Corpus; Christi. He was the team’s fourth-leading scorer, lofting multiple shots over taller opponents and high off the glass, and finished 4-of-8 from the field. Against Eastern Washington on Friday, Keller failed to score and took only one shot in five minutes of play.

In the postgame press conference, Trent Meacham and Mike Davis both spoke highly of their teammate’s improvement.

“Dominique came up big for us off the bench,” Davis said.

“He came in, hustled, rebounded, ran the floor, did the little things that coach wants him to do. I was happy with his performance, and I’m pretty sure everyone else was, too. He needs to do that every game.”

Davis, a sophomore forward, posted career highs of 20 points and 14 rebounds in the contest. Meacham, a senior guard, added 14 points.

“(Keller) was really active,” Meacham said. “He only played 15 minutes, but he got a lot out of those minutes. If he keeps doing that those minutes are going to go up and up.”

Weber explained the unique way his staff has been motivating Keller in practice.

“Coach McClain has been after him about getting his nose bloody,” Weber said. “‘Get your nose bloody every game and give somebody else a bloody nose. Do that.’ That’s what can be helpful to us. And I thought he was a little more aggressive today.”

Tisdale ice cold

Mike Tisdale started at center for the Illini on Sunday but his effort again failed to live up to his coach’s standards. Tisdale was 1-for-7 from the field in 18 minutes, scored six points and grabbed three rebounds. Weber expects the center to come around in time.

“He’s fine. He just missed some shots,” Weber said. “We’re trying to get him to shoot the hook. He keeps making it tough on himself. In the second half he had a drop step layup or dunk, and he does a turnaround the wrong way and he missed it. Then he’s hanging his head and pouting and feeling sorry for himself. He’s very young. He’ll be fine.”

McCamey not in starting five … again

Weber has made it clear, dating back to last season, that he isn’t happy with the practice habits of sophomore guard Demetri McCamey. McCamey wasn’t in the starting lineup again Sunday after starting the first two preseason exhibitions for his team.

This time around, Weber said it was in part McCamey’s shootaround behavior that led to his benching.

“He goes through the motions. You can’t do that,” Weber said. “I’m not telling you to dive on the floor in shootaround but I do expect you to be paying attention, being ready and being in the position so that when the game comes you’re in the right position.

“He’s not the only one.”

Frazier tweaks his leg

Illinois senior guard Chester Frazier tweaked something in his leg Sunday. Weber didn’t know the cause, exactly.

“He landed on it,” Weber said. “He thought he might have hyperextended it a little. Doc’s already checked him. They didn’t feel any ligament or any other kind of damage. Heck, he might have done it diving into the huddle in the shootaround, I don’t know. He’s got to be a little smarter.”