Mike Tisdale's success equals success for Illinois

Just as Illinois' coaches require Mike Tisdale to consume 6,000 calories per day in order to gain weight, they're trying to force-feed his development as a force in the post.

When assistant coach Jay Price takes the Illini big men into the women's gym during practice, he has one set of rules for the 7-foot-1 sophomore and another for everybody else.

Tisdale must focus on jump hooks with his right and left hands. Nothing else.

"Every time the post players do their moves, that's the only two I can do," Tisdale said. "They don't let me do any turnaround jumpers or anything like that."

Here's why Tisdale's continued development matter so much when No. 18 Illinois faces Ohio State on Sunday (noon, Channel 2) and beyond:

The Illini have never lost when Tisdale scores in double figures - they're 14-0 this year and 16-0 for his career - and they've also never lost when Tisdale leads the team in shot attempts (8-0).

The latter stat seems particularly relevant in the wake of Wednesday's absurd 38-33 loss to Penn State.

Illinois scored just 4 points in the final 10:21 that night as they blew a 9-point lead. Tisdale had all 4 points, but he couldn't score more because he didn't get any more shots.

On more than one occasion, Tisdale gained position on the block, but the guard with the ball didn't toss him an entry pass.

"We probably needed him to go in (the post) even a little bit more the other night when we were struggling scoring," said Illinois coach Bruce Weber, "and our guys gotta recognize and get him the ball when we're not making jump shots."

Hypothetically, Tisdale shouldn't get many chances to post up Sunday because the Buckeyes play zone.

But when Illinois handled Ohio State 67-49 on Jan. 20 in Champaign, Tisdale delivered all of his game-high 15 points in the post.

Forward Mike Davis hit him with lob passes for some high-low layups, and Demetri McCamey also fed him for a jump hook.

Another stat that reflects Tisdale's importance to the whole Illinois operation:

In the team's 6 losses, he's averaging 4.5 points in 21.5 minutes per game. In their 21 victories, he's averaging 12.9 points in 25.0 minutes per game.

"He's made a lot of progress," Weber said. "He's had some games where you think, 'Man, this kid's going to be really, really good.'

"But a lot will (depend on) the drive he has and the motivation in the off-season. You know, how far he can come in the future."