After this forgettable loss to Northwestern, Illinois has four of its next five on the road. That starts with road games at Indiana (Thursday) and Michigan (Sunday), who are a combined 26-1 in their own arenas.

Most physical game of the past five seasons. Recent Illinois teams couldn't have withstood the kind of pounding State dishes out. Here's the rundown of our coverage from the Assembly Hall:

-Gamer: Tracy Abrams doesn't care how big you are. Click here.

Critical loss for Illinois. Here's our coverage from Minneapolis:

-Game story: Illini cracking - and very .500. Here.

Rewatching Brandon Paul's performance on the DVR now. It gets better a second time. First shot? Airballed a finger roll. Third shot? Banked in a jumper. Then... 41 more points. We'll add some more details in the weekly Illinois basketball chat at 12:30 today on HQ.

Roundup of coverage from the Assembly Hall on Saturday....

-Joseph Bertrand saves ragged Illini offense: Click here.

Roundup of our coverage from Illinois' win at Northwestern on Wednesday...

-Game report - Illini trying to relocate their team identity: Click here.

The Illini arrived in St. Louis on Wednesday. So did the Tigers. Here's what we have in advance coverage:

-Sam Maniscalco's take on the state of the Illini - and his first time in the Braggin' Rights rivalry. Click here.

If the Illini were playing UNLV on Tuesday or Wednesday, there would be reason for worry. They're not sharp right now. Plenty of reasons for that - final exams, three games in eight days, roles have been blurred, coaches still tinkering with the rotation. And I do think they've read some of the press clippings that say they've already arrived. That's natural. They're ahead of schedule.

Bruce Weber hasn't crossed coaching paths with Tim Beckman. They don't know each other and haven't met. Weber said he knows of Beckman primarily from watching his Toledo teams on ESPN. He knows Beckman has a defensive background, even though Toledo lit the scoreboard on offense.

This probably won't be the last time Illinois struggles to reach 50 - and doesn't make it. Here's a hunch the competition will see St. Bonaventure's blueprint - collapse on Meyers Leonard, who in the first half saw his first triple-team since the Apollo Conference - and put it to work. The Illini reverted to launching three-pointers - 26 in all, three more than their previous season-high.