Bruce Weber was fed up with the questions about ugly wins after the game.  “I’m sick of hearing all the jokes,” he yelled. “We guard, we prepare, we play our butts off in hostile environments.”  Assembly Hall was anything but hostile last night helping Illinois to yet another home win.

Mike Davis had another double-double, Meacham had 13, and McCamey had 10, but it was the defense that won the day.  After Minnesota came back for a one point lead around midway through the second half they were held to one point the rest of the way and none over the last six-plus minutes.  That’s an unreal defensive stretch.

That brand of defense is what makes Illinois so dangerous in the postseason.  Even when the offense is terrible, the defense can keep the team in the game and even shut it down to the point where it seems to convince the offense to mount a comeback.  Not to mention the Chester Frazier factor.  He was up to his old tricks again, holding Minnesota’s leading scorer Lawrence Westbrook to just four points.

Now it’s on to a giant match-up with league leader Michigan State on Sunday.  After a six point loss in East Lansing earlier this season, the Illini can make up for it and draw within a half game of the Sparties with a win.  If Illinois can keep it even on the glass, I think Frazier can keep Kalin Lucas down enough to get the win.

The win last night, paired with Michigan’s upset of Purdue, moves Illinois back into second place above the Boilermakers by a half game.

After being up by five at halftime, it seemed like the Illini were holding onto a one-possession lead for most of the second half.  With about 8 minutes to go, Illinois started to pull away and once again it was NQTC favorite Chester Frazier making a big play.  After an Evan Turner free throw Frazier hit a three from the corner with an arch that must have just missed the ceiling as the shot clock hit zero.

Mike Davis led the Illini again with 22 points on 11-14 from the field, and Trent Meacham chipped in with 17, including some big free throws down the stretch.  The game ended with Meacham missing a free throw on purpose, leaving Ohio State with a 70 foot heave to try for the win, and since this wasn’t Lebron in a Powerade commercial, the Illini got the win.

Illinois is now alone in third place in the Big Ten, a game and a half behind Michigan State for the lead and a game behind Purdue for second place.  They will have a good chance to gain some ground this week with two home games, one against Minnesota on Thursday and the second playing host to the Spartans on Sunday.

Again, hopefully this means that the Penn State debacle was an anomoly, but unfortunately this team might always have the chance to lay an egg like that.  The good thing is that the defense can keep Illinois in almost any game, and with this huge road win they showed they can deal with adversity and adhere to the cliche advice of taking it one game at a time.