COLUMBUS, Ohio – It doesn't take a genius to fire up a basketball team for Michigan or Indiana. Point to the championship banners, roll the ball out and watch your team throw itself around the court for 40 minutes.

Getting psyched for the Big Ten bottom feeders is another story.

In Year Two of Lon Kruger's tenure at Illinois, there apparently is no such thing as a bad team.

"I don't think we prepare any differently for the lower teams than we do for the top teams," Illini forward Brian Johnson said.

Fresh off Sunday's impressive win against Michigan, most would have forgiven the Illini for taking a break against Ohio State. Not Kruger. His players know the drill.

"You don't want human nature to set in," Illini senior Jerry Hester said. "When you get big wins, you tend to relax a little bit. We had a big win on Sunday, and Coach always let us know we can't relax. That's something he's done a very job of, not letting us get into ourselves and be happy with a big win."

In five games against the Big Ten's bottom three last year, the Illini won by an average of 12.4 points. In three games this year against the lower division, they're winning by 11 points a game.

They've got another bottom five team coming up Saturday. Hester's ears perked up when he heard Penn State upset Iowa. No problem getting the Illini up for the trip to State College, Pa.

The Illinois players admitted Wednesday's 66-62 win wasn't the prettiest. But it was a victory, and that's all they really cared about.

"We don't want to let these type of games slip away," UI guard Kevin Turner said. "We're always trying to steal a victory on the road. I think we just came out with that in mind."

The Buckeyes had another idea, like ending a winless Big Ten season. Ohio State entered an unhappy 0-6.

"It's a tough situation," Johnson said. "Not only are we playing an 0-6 team, we're going on the road and they're hungry. Their coach wasn't pleased with some of their effort in the previous games. It had all the makings for a battle. We expected this."

Kruger spent time Monday and Tuesday reminding his players how hard it would be. The coaches talked about it. The players did, too.

"We didn't want to come in here and be overconfident," Turner said.

Overconfidence made sense. Overconfidence fits any team playing the undermanned Buckeyes this season. Worn down by injuries, Ohio State has lost a school-record 10 consecutive games.

"An uniformed basketball fan thinks it's going to be a cakewalk," Johnson said.

Johnson and his teammates knew better. Play a bad game at St. John Arena, and the Buckeyes could pull the upset.

"That's a team that fights hard," Hester said.

Ohio State scared the Illini silly Wednesday. The Buckeyes led by three with six minutes left. They kept fighting until the bitter end.

In their earlier years, Hester, Turner and Johnson might have given the game away. Hostile crowds and hungry teams prey upon young guys. But the five-senior Illini didn't freak out when Ohio State took the lead. They simply pumped in three three-pointers and never trailed again.

"I think that's the experience of the ballclub," Turner said. "We've been doing this for four, and some of us five, years. We wanted to settle things down."

"We know what it takes to get the job done," guard Matt Heldman said.

Turner admitted to feeling a bit queasy during a long Illinois drought.

"Every time I looked over, we were stuck on 45," Turner said. "We needed to put some points on the board."