With the addition of four freshmen — two who have been in the starting rotation — and the loss of seniors like team leader and defensive stopper Chester Frazier, the No. 23 Illinois basketball team has had to adjust to new roles and new faces.

But when it comes to getting used to the new-look squad, wins like Tuesday’s 80-61 victory over Northern Illinois make things easier for the Illini.

“I think we’re gelling pretty fine,” junior guard Demetri McCamey said.

“You never know who’s going to score — me, Mike Davis, Brandon (Paul), D.J. (Richardson), Alex (Legion) — we got guys who can score, so different nights it’s different people.

“As long as we’re happy and winning basketball games … everybody’s gelling and on one page,” McCamey added.

But that doesn’t mean the Orange and Blue don’t have work to do.

Turnovers were a problem against the Huskies, as the Illini had 14 that night — 10 of which came in the first half.

“Demetri got in foul trouble and we had to face that predicament for the first time here,” head coach Bruce Weber said. “The young guys didn’t take care of the basketball, basically handed it to (NIU), allowed them to get back in to the game.”

Where’s D.J.’s offense?

After dazzling the Illini faithful with a game-high 23 points in Illinois’ final preseason tuneup against Quincy on Nov. 8, freshman guard D.J. Richardson’s offense has dropped off with the start of the regular season.

Richardson had 14 points against Southern Illinois University Edwardsville on Friday and just 5 against NIU on Tuesday.

Some of his recent offensive woes may be the result of a hyper-extended right elbow, which he suffered in practice last week.

“His elbow, it hurts a little bit,” Weber said. “When he misses a shot, it hurts. And when he doesn’t miss a shot, he makes it, it doesn’t hurt.”

The elbow injury may not be too serious, but it isn’t the only thing bothering Richardson right now.

“D.J.’s lost his confidence handling the ball,” Weber said. “It makes no sense to me because he’s a good ball handler in all the drills and stuff.

“I think he’s just a little gun shy right now, but he does give us a lot of other things,” Weber added. “And he’s going to have to fight through this.”

Intensity increase

Junior forward Mike Davis grabbed a career-high 17 rebounds and added 14 points to notch his second double-double in as many games on the young season.

“I wouldn’t do it without my teammates,” Davis said. “Demetri does a good job finding me, he had eight assists. Brandon did a good job finding me too and D.J. also.”

Weber doesn’t think double-digit rebounds should be anything out of the ordinary for the forward, but he said Davis will need to overcome his sometimes “lackadaisical” play.

“To me, the most important thing is the four offensive rebounds,” Weber said. “He had a couple plays that when we were struggling he got those offensive rebounds that definitely helped us.”

Now with 11 double-doubles for his career, Davis’ play against NIU was significant for more than one reason.

“I think this is the first time also (that) he (has) played well here when his dad and mom have been here, so that was a big bugaboo with him to get over,” Weber said.

“He made a step I guess in the right direction,” he added.