Despite 4-0 Big Ten start, Illini far from perfect

You can't be better than 4-0 after four Big Ten games, but that doesn't mean you can't get better.

With its 1-point escape over Penn State on Tuesday, Illinois owns its fifth 4-0 league start in the last 40 years.

Each of the program's previous 4-0 squads qualified for the NCAA Tournament - and two reached the Final Four. Those are good signs for an uneven Illini team that has been getting its mail forwarded to One NCAA Bubble Way for a month already.

But as they say on Wall Street: Past performance is no guarantee of future results, and Illinois hasn't exactly encountered any blue-chip opposition to date.

The Illini haven't played ANY of their nine games against the five Big Ten foes (Michigan State, Purdue, Wisconsin, Ohio State, Minnesota) that rank among the nation's top 20 teams according to Jeff Sagarin's and Ken Pomeroy's computer rankings.

That gantlet begins with Saturday's first-place showdown at No. 7 Michigan State.

Judging by Tuesday's performance, junior point guard Demetri McCamey and 7-foot-1 junior center Mike Tisdale are ready for the Spartans. They scored all but 3 of Illinois' points over the final 31 minutes against Penn State.

Freshman guard D.J. Richardson, who has nailed 10 of his last 17 3-point attempts, also seems to be in a defensive groove after helping to stifle Penn State's Talor Battle into a 4-for-19 shooting night.

"In his locker room before the game, he taped up his goals and his keys to stopping Talor Battle," said Illinois coach Bruce Weber. "The kid's grown up. He's learned how important preparation is. Maybe it'll carry over to some other guys."

The other guys need something to rebuild their depleted confidence.

Junior forward Mike Davis, a second-team all-Big Ten pick last year, owns 10 points in his last 3 games.

He has gone 5 of 16 from the field and 0 for 3 at the free-throw line during that stretch. He's so uncertain of his shot, Weber ran a pick-and-pop play designed to get Davis a shot midway through the second half at Penn State.

Though Davis was wide-open for a 15-footer, he uncharacteristically deferred and found a cutting Tisdale for a dunk.

Then there's freshman guard Brandon Paul, the former starter who played just 30 minutes in the last 3 games and has gone 1 of 16 from the floor.

A prime example of his eroding confidence? He made a nice second-half shot fake against Penn State and pulled up for an open 17-footer, but the shot sailed a foot beyond the rim and off Tisdale's shoulder.

"Mike Davis, obviously, has lost confidence," Weber said. "Brandon Paul is trying to make some plays that weren't there. So we've got some guys struggling. I blame myself a little bit with some of it because I gave too much freedom early on shot selection.

"Now I've tried to curtail it and I think some guys just want to go, but they know Coach is saying, 'Be careful,' and then they're kind of inbetween and then they take some questionable shots."