Illini set to meet Self, Kansas

It took a win over Las Vegas for Illinois to reach the point where it gets to play with house money.

A season in which the Illini seemingly did nothing right transformed, in the space of a special two-hour performance at BOK Center in Tulsa, Okla., into a season in which they have nothing to lose.

Illinois earned the dramatic flip-flop with its 73-62 win over UNLV on Friday night.

Now the Illini get to be part of the best story line of the weekend — and they get to be the team with fewer expectations for perhaps the first time since opening the year No. 13 in the Associated Press poll.

Who expects ninth-seeded Illinois to hang with NCAA Tournament co-favorite Kansas when they meet at 7:40 p.m. Sunday?

Who expects Bruce Weber, forever coming up short in comparison with his predecessor at Illinois, to match wits with Bill Self?

If you’d asked these questions six years ago, when Weber had a national title appearance on his resume and Self still hadn’t made a Final Four, Weber would have had his fan base’s undying support.

But this year’s tumult backed Weber into a corner like never before in his eight years at Illinois. Does Friday’s win smooth over everything?

Playing without freshman Jereme Richmond, who violated athletic department rules, the Illini shot 60 percent against UNLV and led by 22 points with less than four minutes to play.

From the opening possession, when senior center Mike Tisdale posted up and flipped in a jump hook, the Illini looked more determined than they’d been all year.

They got out in transition more than they had all year. They won the boards. They never looked panicked.

But why did senior point guard Demetri McCamey talk in the past tense in the CBS postgame interview?

“It’s tremendous to go out like this,” McCamey said. “Just not getting into the tournament, but winning a game in the tournament.”