Remembering 2004-05: Cool at Kohl

Remembering 2004-05: Working OT against Iowa

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 solved the mystery that is Breslin Center, beating Tom Izzo's 12th-ranked Spartans to pass another road test.

Date: Feb. 1, 2005

Headline: Best keep getting better

By BRETT DAWSON

EAST LANSING, Mich. — On paper, this was the one.

On paper, Michigan State caused matchup problems for No. 1 Illinois. On paper, the Breslin Center was the last great roadblock between Illinois and a Big Ten title run.

On paper, the Spartans were the team, and Breslin the venue, that could do in the Illini's perfect season.

Illinois (22-0, 8-0 Big Ten) shredded that paper – and the 12th-ranked Spartans – on Tuesday, cruising past Michigan State 81-68 in what was supposed to be its toughest test yet.

"I can see where you would think that," said Illini guard Deron Williams, who scored 14 points and dished out five assists. "Just because this is a tough place to play, Michigan State (has) athleticism. It's tough to compete with those guys, and they have a great coach. But I don't think we were ready to accept that. We never thought that way."

And no wonder.

Nobody's beaten Illinois this season. Hardly anybody has come close.

But the Illini's confidence springs less from what's come so far as from what they think is coming.

Here's a scary thought for the Big Ten, and maybe for the nation: Illinois is (gulp) getting better.

"Every single day," Williams said.

Toughened by a gut-check at Wisconsin, Illinois came north this week certain it would leave Michigan State with a win.

When that win came, there were high-fives and chest bumps, but hardly the wild celebration that followed last week's similarly impressive win against the Badgers in Madison, Wis.

Not that this was some ho-hum win. Michigan State had won 95 of the last 101 regular season games at the Breslin Center. The Spartans entered the game 10-0 at home this season, averaging 85.5 points a game in the friendly confines.

But in front of a white-clad crowd and an energized Izzone, Illinois held Michigan State 12 points below its season scoring average while limiting the Spartans to 42.9 percent shooting.

In doing so, the Illini left little doubt that they're a better team than the one that struggled to beat Iowa in overtime two weeks ago - and maybe better than the one that beat Wisconsin last week.

"I think they have the ingredients to win a national championship," Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. "I don't want to put that on their backs because there are so many other things on their backs, but as Bobby Knight once told me about my team after we beat (Indiana), 'You've got a real chance to win it,' and that was the year we won."

Illinois, Izzo said, has some characteristics in common with his 2000 national championship squad, but the Illini have a few traits all their own.

Like the way they bury the opposition from behind the arc (they sank 13 three-pointers against the Spartans); or the way they lock up an opponents' ball handlers (12 steals); or the way they make big plays at just the right moments.

But if there's one thing about his team that gets Bruce Weber giddy, it's the improvement it continues to make, even as the number in the win column keeps climbing.

"That's something we've continued to stress: How can you get better?" Weber said. "They don't seem to get complacent. We've told them it's not enough to stay where you are, and they've really bought into that."

That explains Rich McBride using his dribble to set up Nick Smith for a wide-open layup. It explains why James Augustine's confidence has continued to climb and Williams' jump shot has started to fall.

"They're mature, and they're very coachable," Illinois assistant coach Jay Price said. "They know that we're good, but we're not as good as we can be."

It seemed appropriate, then, to ask Tuesday night: Who's going to beat you guys?

The Illini are winning their games by an average of 18.5 points, their conference games by 14.6 a night.

Iowa and Purdue are the only Big Ten opponents to come within single digits of the Illini. Michigan is hurting. Pierre Pierce's future is in doubt at Iowa. And with no remaining games against teams currently ranked in the Top 25, it's reasonable to wonder if improving Illinois might make it through the regular season unscathed.

"People are going to talk about that, but we're not trying to hear it," Williams said.

"We just take it one game at a time," added Dee Brown, who dazzled with his 18 points, if not with that postgame cliche.

But to hear Weber tell it, Brown wasn't just blowing smoke.

The coach has trimmed his practices from the marathon 2 1/2-hour sessions he favored early to 1 1/2-hour sprints, and yet his team, he said, continues to make wide strides in short sessions.

He wouldn't touch the undefeated topic ('If we get to 12-0, 13-0 in the league, then we'll talk about it,' he said at least twice), but Weber is certain of at least two things.

His team is very good. And it is getting better.

"They're very focused on improvement," Weber said. "I just hope we can keep it up."