With the final exhibition game behind it, the Illini basketball team is still looking for answers — from who the starters will be to how the freshmen are going to perform under pressure.

Freshman guard D.J. Richardson led all scorers with 23 points against Quincy on Sunday. But even Richardson admitted that he, and the rest of the freshmen, have “a lot to learn.”

“It’s a difference from playing in three-hour practices, and going in the game and playing four minutes straight and then getting the media timeout,” Richardson said.

Illinois managed to avoid a Syracuse-style upset Sunday, but the close score through much of the game prevented head coach Bruce Weber from giving everybody as much playing time as he planned. That could make it even harder to settle on a rotation.

“We didn’t get a lot of guys minutes that probably they deserved,” Weber said. “That’s really the veterans’ fault, to be honest. They didn’t do what they’re supposed to, so now that puts us in a bind.”

Bumps and bruises

Freshman guard Joseph Bertrand didn’t see the court against the Hawks. Bertrand has been hampered since September, when he tore the lateral meniscus in his right knee.

Last Thursday, Weber said he was considering playing the freshman against Quincy, but he added that the knee was still causing Bertrand problems.

“He’s had his knee drained several times, but it continues to swell up and that’s why, you know, I think the medical staff really feels it’s important we rest him for multiple days here because he doesn’t need that to continue to happen,” Weber said.

During the week leading up to the game, Weber and University Director of Sports Medicine Al Martindale decided to sit Bertrand for several practices.

“To his credit … (he has) a lot of toughness — more than I thought,” Weber said. “He’s showed that he wants it.”

Weber has been impressed with Bertrand’s motivation to be part of practice, but the guard’s efforts may have contributed to the ongoing problems.

“He almost went too hard, he probably hurt himself a little bit, and now we just got to get the swelling down and we get that knee settled down, then just kind of work him back in and just see what happens with him,” Weber said.

Bertrand’s injury may be the most serious on the team, but he isn’t the only wounded Illini.

Freshman guard Brandon Paul has five stitches over his left eye after colliding with junior center Mike Tisdale’s elbow. But he isn’t looking for any revenge.

“I mean, it’s basketball,” Paul said. “You can’t really worry too much about that.”

Debut No. 2

Jeff Jordan’s return to the Illini was announced during Illini Madness on Oct. 16, and the junior guard saw some minutes during the Orange and Blue Scrimmage on Oct. 25. But Sunday marked Jordan’s first game performance of the season, as he played 19 minutes without scoring.

Those 19 minutes demonstrated why Jordan didn’t play until Sunday.

“He went to exhaustion, you know, and that’s part of his conditioning that he has to catch up,” Weber said. “He got to a point (where) he just stopped in the first half. And it’s our fault — we left him in too long.”

But Weber also saw things he liked from the junior, including a “boost of energy” for the team.

“He’s smarter, older, he can give us some defense,” Weber said. “He’s never going to be a great scorer, but he can do some things that maybe some of our other guys can’t do.”