Just got back to Champaign  from sunny South Padre Island, Texas  in the wee hours of  Sunday morning  with a happy ( and a little bit  sleepy) Illini team.

Let's review the trip:

*Two wins over solid opponents Kent State and Tulsa....and not just wins...but close wins 

*Three players on the all-tournament team ...including tournament MVP Mike Tisdale

*Chester Frazier playing with an injured left leg and making one of the defensive plays of the year so far when he dove into the stands to save a loose ball against Kent State

*Mike Davis with another double-double

*The emergence of the 7'0" Tisdale as a clutch player down the stretch in both games on the island

*80 degree weather pretty much every day we were there

*And finally...one of the best Thanksgiving meals I have ever had in my life on Thursday night at the team hotel (ask anyone else who was there...they will tell you the same thing)

The Illini won a couple of grind-it-out games this past weekend.  They will need to shift gears quickly against the full-court pressing and undefeated Clemson Tigers.

The Big Ten-ACC Challenge is next...talk to you from the Assembly Hall Tuesday night.