Columnist Loren Tate thinks Sunday's game is the perfect time for the Illini to toughen up. Read his thoughts here.

GAME 24

UI men vs. Purdue,

noon today, WCIA (CBS)

LINEUPS

ILLINOIS (18-5, 6-4 Big Ten)

Probable starters

No. P Name HT. YR. PPG

3 G Chester Frazier 6-2 Sr. 5.1

1 G Trent Meacham 6-2 Sr. 10.3

32 G Demetri McCamey 6-3 So. 12.0

24 F Mike Davis 6-9 So. 10.5

54 C Mike Tisdale 7-1 So. 11.2

Top reserves

23 F Dominique Keller 6-7 Jr. 6.3

25 G Calvin Brock 6-5 Sr. 5.6

33 G Alex Legion 6-5 So. 4.8

PURDUE (17-5, 6-3)

Probable starters

No. P Name HT. YR. PPG

23 G Lewis Jackson 5-9 Fr. 5.5

33 G E'Twaun Moore 6-3 So. 14.0

5 G Keaton Grant 6-4 Jr. 8.1

3 G Chris Kramer 6-3 Jr. 4.9

25 C JaJuan Johnson 6-7 Sr. 13.3

Top reserves

20 G Marcus Green 6-4 Sr. 5.4

44 F Nemanja Calasan 6-9 Sr. 11.0

11 G Bobby Riddell 5-9 Sr. 2.4

FACTS & FIGURES

Site: Assembly Hall (16,618), Champaign

Radio: Brian Barnhart and Jerry Hester call the action on WDWS 1400-AM, WHMS 97.5-FM, WDAN 1490-AM, WDNL 102.1-FM and WPXN 104.9-FM.

TV: CBS. Verne Lundquist is on play-by-play duties, and former UNLV Runnin' Rebel Greg Anthony provides the expert analysis.

Series: Purdue leads 88-83. Illinois won their first meeting this season, 71-67 in overtime, at Mackey Arena on Dec. 30. The teams have split their last four meetings in Champaign. As the Illinois coach, Bruce Weber is 6-4 against Purdue, where he was an assistant for 18 seasons.

Coaches: Weber (146-52 in sixth season at Illinois, 249-106 in 11th season overall); Matt Painter (73-45 in fourth season at Purdue and 98-50 in fifth season overall).

STORYLINES

1

Maturing Mike

Sometimes you can tell more about a player after a loss. One day after Mike Tisdale had two points and five fouls in the loss at Wisconsin, he could have avoided reporters, but he answered our questions with confidence. It's a small step for the sophomore, but it's a noteworthy step. "We've got to change something," Tisdale said at the team's practice facility Friday. "We've got to come in with better attitudes." And he had a breakout game in the UI's first matchup with Purdue (18 points, six rebounds). "Mike Tisdale's not your traditional 7-footer," Purdue coach Matt Painter said. "He'd be a good basketball player if he was 6-1. But he's 7-1." Bruce Weber said he wants Tisdale's body language to change. "We have some young kids, maybe some sensitive kids," Weber said. "Mike Tisdale hangs his feelings on his sleeve, probably the worst of anybody. He just gets down on himself and he's got to get through that."

2

Moore, please

Few opposing guards have enjoyed a visit to the Assembly Hall more than Purdue's E'Twaun Moore. He was sensational in an 83-75 win last season, unloading for 16 points in a stretch of about six minutes. A one-time Illini recruiting target, Moore finished with 24 points. "One of the best shows against a team in the games I've coached in the Big Ten," Weber said. Robbie Hummel was named the Big Ten's preseason Player of the Year, but Moore is probably Purdue's best player. And the 6-foot-3 guard has thumped the Illini. In his last three games against Illinois, Moore has averaged 21 points. Illinois has been one of the nation's top defensive teams, but it all fell apart at Wisconsin. The Illini allowed the Badgers to score on 11 of 13 possessions during one stretch of the loss. "We need to get back to those fundamentals, little things on defense that we've gotten away from," senior Trent Meacham said.

3

Wounded Boilers

The question on everyone's mind: Will Robbie Hummel play? The Boilers' blue-collar forward has a back injury – a hairline fracture of the L-5 vertebra – and is considered game-to-game. "Robbie Hummel can play in the Illinois game, he might sit out two weeks or he might sit out the rest of the year," Painter said. The coach said everyone from team physicians to Hummel's family – and the 19-year-old's grandparents live in Champaign-Urbana – will continue to evaluate his situation. "You'll find something out the day of the game," Painter said of Hummel's status. It's a horribly unfortunate development for Hummel, the Boilers and the Big Ten, which might lose one of its best players (on one of its best teams) for the season. But the Illini prepared Friday as though Hummel will play, going through several drills with a scout player manning the role of Hummel at one of the forward spots. There's no doubt Purdue is a different team without him, though. Two of its Big Ten losses (Penn State, Ohio State) came with Hummel on the sideline. "He is a tough kid," Weber said. "He's a competitor and he plays to win."

PREDICTION

No. 16 Purdue 61, No. 23 Illinois 59

One thing preseason prognostications don't take into account: injuries. Illinois endured a decade's worth of injuries during the 2006-07 and 2007-08 seasons. Now the tables have turned, and Purdue is battling back injuries (Hummel), foot injuries (Chris Kramer) and a touch of the flu (Lewis Jackson). Jackson, a Decatur Eisenhower product and the reigning News-Gazette All-State Player of the Year, leads all Big Ten freshmen with 3.6 assists per game and is a top candidate for the league's All-Freshman team. A matchup with Purdue, which is coming off a loss, is not the best way to relocate your mojo, and the Illini will fall for the third time in four games. (News-Gazette prediction record: 19-4).