Short(er) practice today here at Ubben as Illinois prepares for Minnesota on Thursday (6, Big Ten Network). A few notes...

- Bruce Weber again talked about how he's going to remain tough on this team, despite the fact it's late in the season, and usually coaches would take it easier to maintain a positive vibe. But the coach believes this group needs to be pushed.

Weber has gone so far as to text message players before a practice, to implore them to practice hard in that day's practice. He text messaged several players before today's practice.

"I probably have to come to practice and be a little bit of a jerk today," Weber said today. "I've kind of sent some messages out to the players: ‘You guys be the driving force, not me.'"

- The chilled-out nature of these Illini has underlined the importance of the assistant coaches riding the players, as well. Wayne McClain is kind of the bad cop; Jerrance Howard is kind of the good cop. But I've watched all of the coaches, at different times, jump on Demetri McCamey or Mike Davis, for example, when they felt it was necessary. Today's practice, the day after an off day and two days after a win, definitely is no exception.

"I always talk about him (McClain) being the wisdom of the team. I think they don't always like him, because he's always on him," Weber said today. "But the result is they appreciate him and respect him. ... You need assistants to jump in there sometimes. I talk about the constant nagger. If I'm constantly nagging, they'll tune me out."

Weber added, "I think Jay (Price) is way better than he used to be. He stands up and voices his opinion. Jerrance is young and kind of our more cuddly guy. But at the same time, Jerrance will pop up and let them understand what's going on. They all can do it, too, in different ways."

- The players usually know which coaches are out recruiting and which coaches will be at practice.

"We joke around all the time. When he (McClain) tells us he's not going to be here that day, we're all happy and things like that," Tisdale said today.

- Players and coaches have brought up Minnesota's 59-36 rout of Illinois in their first meeting. Weber said the loss in Minneapolis "wasn't quite as embarrassing as (the 38-33 loss to) Penn State," though he's used the Jan. 29 defeat to get their attention.

"Any motivational edge that you get (can help). If you beat them up there I would worried that would we have a little bit of  a casual attitude," Weber said, adding, "I hope it's an advantage for us. It's not only the Minnesota game and how we performed at home the last time."

- Much has been made of Illinois' 33-point debacle against Penn State, and rightfully so. But a single-game letdown isn't unique to Illinois (though 33 points certainly is). You can look at most teams, at any level, and find a headshaking clunker.

Duke's 27-point loss to Clemson. Wake Forest's 27-point loss at Miami. Kansas losing to UMass at home. Michigan State's home loss to Northwestern. Utah's loss to Idaho State. Coaches will tell you it's difficult to maintain a high level of play, even a respectable level of play, over a 31-game regular season, and the results show as much.

“This reminds me of the 80s and 90s, the balance," Weber said.

No, that doesn't get Illinois off the hook for scoring 33 points at home. But maybe it helps to put it in perspective.

- I think Mike Davis can be a Big Ten Player of the Year candidate as a junior. How he finishes his sophomore season, though, will tell alot. Right about this time last year is when he made a push, in practice and in games, and it carried over into this season.

Weber said Davis made a telling statement after a Sunday game against Indiana or Ohio State. (Not sure which one it was.) It was right after the sophomore was interviewed on CBS.

"He comes late into the locker room," Weber said. "The one comment he had was, ‘But I still can't guard anybody.'"

- The Illinois ticket office said there are about 600 tickets remaining for Thursday's game against Minnesota.

- Bonus coverage for those in attendance: Ken Norman will be honored prior to tipoff on Thursday, and Deon Thomas will be honored, probably at halftime, of Sunday's game against Michigan State.

- Top 25 voter Seth Davis responds to Illini vitriol. Click here.

- Here's what veteran bracketologist Jerry Palm told me about Illinois' seeding in the NCAA tournament, and how the 33-point outing could affect that seeding. Click here.

pklee@news-gazette.com