Cats say they won't come out flat as a pancake again

Officially, Northwestern showed up on Jan. 6 at Illinois.

Unofficially, the Wildcats were barely there as the Illini shot a school-record 70.5 percent from the field in a 25-point whipping.

“Everyone on our team came out flat,” said NU senior point guard Juice Thompson. “Every player, up and down the line.”

The Wildcats promise that won't be the case for Saturday's rematch on CBS.

Not only did they vow Friday to be there mentally, they discovered leading scorer John Shurna will be there physically as well.

Shurna, who sat out last Saturday's 1-point loss to No. 1 Ohio State after suffering a concussion Jan. 26 at Minnesota, passed an independent doctor's concussion test Friday and received clearance to play against the Illini.

When Shurna suited up for Friday's practice, it marked his first physical activity in nine days.

“He can go a little bit today,” said Northwestern coach Bill Carmody said prior to the workout. “Shoot around. No contact. Nothing. He's just out there stretching, that kind of stuff.”

Shurna's medically required inactivity allowed his high left ankle sprain an unprecedented chance to heal. The Glenbard West product has worn a walking boot since suffering that injury on Dec. 23.

“He never had a stamina problem,” Carmody said. “I'm going to tell him it's good for him, now that he's got that rest. You got a week off. It's like the all-star break. Come back fresh.”

Illinois ought to have plenty of zip after handling Penn State by 17 points Tuesday night, but Bruce Weber knows his team's tendency is to handle success poorly.

Could the combination of Tuesday's solid win with last month's dominant effort against Northwestern be an elixir that leaves the Illini overconfident?

“It's going to be a totally different game,” Weber said. “I hope our guys realize that.”

While it's unrealistic to expect Illinois to approach its 70 percent shooting rate, Weber thinks it's not too much to expect his guys to do the same things that worked so well against NU and Penn State.

During Demetri McCamey's 10 minutes on the bench against Penn State, for example, the Illini moved the ball quickly and outscored the Nittany Lions by 16.

“The big thing that comes and goes is moving the ball,” Weber said. “When we move the basketball and get good movement, we get a lot of assists and also end up seeming to play pretty well.”

Meanwhile, Northwestern also believes it has found a formula for victory.

The Wildcats slowed the tempo against Ohio State and came closer to victory than any of the Buckeyes' 23 victims.

“I don't have to fool (our players),” Carmody said. “They saw that they can play — and that was without John. I think they know they're OK; that they can play with just about anybody.”

Thompson said NU plans to play at a similar pace against Illinois, though Carmody suggested his squad will find a happy medium between the Ohio State game and earlier uptempo games.

Regardless of the actual tempo, the Wildcats vowed to play all-out Saturday.

“It was an embarrassing loss (at Illinois),” said NU sophomore Drew Crawford. “It's motivating. I'm glad we get to play them tomorrow.”