Remembering 2004-05: A milestone moment

Remembering 2004-05: A scare at Purdue

Remembering 2004-05: Big Ten opener's a blast

Remembering 2004-05: Illini braggin' but draggin'

Remembering 2004-05: Chicago gets taste of No. 1

Remembering 2004-05: UI climbs to No. 1

Remembering 2004-05: UI 91, Wake Forest 73

Remembering 2004-05: UI 89, Gonzaga 72

Remembering 2004-05: UI 87, Delaware State 67

Remembering 2004-05: UI 92, Lewis 61

Remembering 2004-05: UI 78, Southern Illinois-Edwardsville 58

Remembering 2004-05: N-G front pages

Remembering 2004-05: Midnight Madness

Remembering 2004-05: Orange & Blue Scrimmage

EACH WEEK, WE'LL TAKE A LOOK BACK AT A MEMORABLE MOMENT IN ILLINI HISTORY, THANKS TO THE WORDS OF THE NEWS-GAZETTE

This week: In our continuing series on the 2004-05 Illini, Bruce Weber's unbeaten Illini almost saw their winning streak end at 19 as Steve Alford's Hawkeyes took them to overtime.

Date: Jan. 20, 2005

Headline: Too close for comfort

By BRETT DAWSON

CHAMPAIGN — Bruce Weber screamed and tossed a basketball and called his team names you can't print in the newspaper.

He figured maybe that would get the message to sink in.

Turns out, he might have needed an assist from Iowa.

Weber's top-ranked Illinois basketball team still is unbeaten — 19-0 now after Thursday's 73-68 escape from the Hawkeyes in overtime at the Assembly Hall — but hardly unbeatable, a message Weber tried to drive home at practice Wednesday.

It didn't work then, but Iowa got the Illini's attention.

"You (media) guys and a couple other people were saying we needed to lose a game,"Illinois guard Luther Head said after his 25 points bailed out the Illini. "Well, I guess you can take this one as a loss. I know we are."

The standings still show Illinois as unblemished, but the long faces and short answers at Thursday's postgame news conference revealed a team feeling sour midway through one of its sweetest seasons.

That happens when you allow a team - even the nation's 23rd-ranked team - to score 40 second-half points, forcing overtime.

It happens when you miss easy shots, mishandle easy passes and give up easy baskets against a team that entered the game with two Big Ten losses.

Illinois' motto this season seems to be Don't Just Win Baby, Win Big.

When it doesn't happen, don't expect much joy on Planet Orange.

"We didn't play the way we're capable of playing, and any time your team comes out with a performance like that, you can't be happy," Head said. "I  mean, you can enjoy the win, but you can't be jumping for joy like you did something special. We know we've got work to do."

Weber knew that already.

He knew it Wednesday when his team lazed its way through practice, which Weber said is becoming a habit the day before a game.

That's why he launched a basketball against a backboard and let loose an expletive-laced tirade late Wednesday. He wanted to slap his team back to reality.

Iowa handled that for him and almost ended Illinois' perfect season and run at No. 1 in the process.

Iowa made Illinois do things it never does. The Illini fumbled (19 turnovers) and bumbled (32.8 percent shooting) and stumbled most of the night, despite never trailing after the game's opening minutes.

But while Illinois never lost its lead, it looked a little like a team that's lost some of its edge.

"We were so much ahead of everyone early because of our veteran group," Weber said. "We were hungry, we guarded, people weren't ready (with their) transition defense, our offense was clicking. Now, people are catching up to us, and are we going to make a move?"

The only move they made Thursday was a rare step backward.

Dee Brown and Deron Williams combined for 16 points on 5-of-14 shooting. Illinois' big men were even worse, Roger Powell Jr. and James Augustine shooting a combined 3 of 21, Powell 2 of 15.

'He shot the three in front of the bench, I wanted to block it,' Weber said of Powell, who was 0 for 3 from three-point range. 'We would've had a better chance. We would've had the ball.'

While the Illini were firing second-half bricks, Iowa was rock solid. The Hawkeyes made big shots at crunch time, including a Greg Brunner floater with 3.3 seconds to play that sent the game into overtime.

They came up short but made Illinois go deep into a meaningful game, a first this season.

And though Illinois came through in the end, neither Weber nor his players was particularly pleased with the result.

That, they had in common.

The difference is, Weber saw it coming.

It's the nature of the game, he said. It doesn't mean his team is lazy or feeling the burden of a perfect start.

It means his team can't afford to relax with a target on its back. Kansas got a push from Nebraska on Wednesday at home, Weber pointed out. Georgetown took Syracuse to overtime.

"I don't think it's pressure — I just think it's the season," Weber said. "It's been a circus this week, to be honest. A lot of media attention, a lot of national media attention. Maybe they're mentally drained a little bit, and maybe this will be a good kick in the butt."

His players promised it would be.

"They always say you need failure to learn, but these type of games will make us learn that we've got to come out every day and play," Brown said.

Weber might not need to yell to get that point across.

"I'm sure we're going to watch this film over and over again," Head said. "And over and over."

Weber only hopes they're paying attention through repeated viewings. He'd rather not repeat his Wednesday tantrum any time soon.

"Sometimes you run out of things to say," Weber said. "It becomes rhetoric and it's just 'Oh, what is Coach saying now?' Now, if they don't learn a lesson it's going to cost us. We got lucky this time, and it might cost us next time."