Loss causes Illini to face 'confidence issue'

CHAMPAIGN -- It takes a well-trained pair of Illini eyes to find a silver lining in Miami (Ohio)'s 61-58 overtime victory Thursday night at the Assembly Hall.

Well, here goes …

Since the Braggin' Rights game with Missouri looms at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in St. Louis, there's no time for Illinois to relive this rare nonconference loss.

"We can't dwell on it," coach Bruce Weber said. "We dwelled on Arizona probably too much. Now, I guess, for the kids' sakes this is the best thing for them."

The Illini hop on a bus this morning to head to the Scottrade Center, where they'll shoot a little and sort out psyches a lot.

"Now it's a confidence issue for all of us," Weber said. "I've got to help them through it."

Illinois built 6-point leads in each half against Miami, but followed those bursts with long stretches filled with what Weber terms "empty possessions."

"I think they start doubting," Weber said. "You see it. It gets close. There's some body language. Heads down. We talked about it this week."

At least the Illini won't have to cram a lot of Missouri prep into a little time frame. They learned from last year when they had just one day between the Belmont and Missouri games.

Illinois spent two full days last week working against the Tigers' variety of presses -- under the guise of preparing for Western Carolina.

Pruitt produces: Senior center Shaun Pruitt battled through a career-high 42 minutes and piled up 24 points and 15 rebounds for his 11th career double-double.

"Shaun played very hard," coach Bruce Weber said. "He didn't quit. He probably played through exhaustion, so you've got to give Shaun a lot of credit."

Football strikes again: Just as sophomore quarterback Juice Williams and freshman receiver Arrelious Benn served as the biggest catches in their recruiting classes, here comes Cleveland's Cordale Scott to be this year's bellwether.

Scott, a 6-foot-3, 200-pound wide receiver from powerhouse Glenville High School, announced Thursday that he will attend Illinois.

Not only is Scott a fine get on his own merits -- Rivals.com ranks him as the No. 3 prospect in Ohio -- his decision becomes bigger because he selected Illinois over Ohio State.

Scott is the 26th prep recruit to commit to Illinois this year and the fourth receiver.

Those numbers don't include speedy Florida transfer Jarred Fayson, a one-time four-star recruit who will join Illinois for the spring semester and be eligible for the 2009 season.

Zook honored: During Thursday night's basketball game against Miami, the night's biggest roar was reserved for football coach Ron Zook.

When he was shown on the scoreboard video screen during a first-half timeout, the majority of the crowd offered Zook a standing ovation.

The latest reason for fans to cheer him? Zook was named Thursday as the 2007 Schutt Sports Coach of the Year for FBS schools.

LSU's Les Miles, Missouri's Gary Pinkel, Hawaii's June Jones and Arizona State's Dennis Erickson were the other finalists.