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* * *

Chester Frazier raced through a tunnel, onto the court at the Rose Garden and took a pass with his left hand.

The right one was still wrapped and under an orange long-sleeve shirt.

No. 5 Illinois will face No. 12 Western Kentucky in the first round of the NCAA tournament today without Frazier, coach Bruce Weber said. He also said Frazier is out for a potential game Saturday.

No surprise there. Frazier had surgery on a broken hand one week ago, and few players, even the seemingly indestructible senior, can play hoops with a broken hand. So what now?

"We'll miss him. But, obviously, some of these other guys have got to step up," assistant coach Wayne McClain said. "Jeff (Jordan) and some of these other guys have to guard. Demetri's going to have to guard (defend).

"I told Demetri (McCamey) today, 'You're going to have to guard like Chester and guard like Calvin (Brock).' He can't be one-dimensional in this game."

Weber didn't rule out Frazier for the entire NCAA tournament, should Illinois advance.

"Right now we're worried about Western Kentucky. We have to advance past them to even think about it," Weber said, adding, "Right now we have to see if some other guys step up and just hope for the best. And if we get past Western, we'll just see if we can move on and then we'll talk about Chester later on."

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No. 5 Purdue is in Portland to face No. 12 Northern Iowa in a West Regional game. The Boilers were the last team to see Illinois sans Frazier.

"The level of energy is up when he's playing because he's always everywhere," said guard E'Twaun Moore, who was defended by Frazier in their February matchup. "On defense he's on the ball or he's on help side or he's rebounding. It's different without him."

"I don't think people understand how good of a basketball player he is," said forward Robbie Hummel, who was guarded by Frazier in their December meeting. "It might not show up in terms of scoring the basketball. He really makes the team go. I think it's very important for Illinois to have him on the floor because he makes everyone better."

Purdue coaches compared Frazier's worth to Illinois with Hummel's worth to Purdue.

"There was no doubt it helped us (in a win in the Big Ten tournament)," said assistant coach Paul Lusk, who had the Illinois scout. "He's like Robbie Hummel to our team. Both guys are guys that don't score a lot of points. But they do so much for their team. They facilitate the offense, they get guys open. Then, obviously, Chester's such a great defender that there's no doubt it was an advantage for us."

* * *

The Illinois coaches rotate scouting report duties. Because Illinois would play Gonzaga or Akron in the second round, assistant coach Jay Price has the Gonzaga scout and Jerrance Howard has the Akron scout.

McClain has the WKU scout and was complimentary of the Hilltoppers, who won the Sun Belt Conference tournament to reach their fifth NCAA tournament this decade.

"Great offensive rebounding team. They spread you out, shoot a lot of threes," McClain said. "The thing they do so well, though, is they got them (the misses). So a lot of times they'll trade a three for a two. We're going to have to be real conscious of them on the boards."

McClain said Western Kentucky uses some of the same schemes as Ohio State and Michigan State.

"Offensively they do a lot of things like Ohio State, the continuous ball screens," McClain said. "Some of their action is like Michigan State, with the pin downs, the dribble weaves."

Western Kentucky is led in scoring by 6-foot-3 guard A.J. Slaughter, though McClain pointed out the Hilltoppers' balanced scoring. Like Illinois for much of the season, Western Kentucky has four players averaging in double figures.

"I told Chester (Frazier), 'You'd be so perfect for Slaughter,' " McClain said, though McCamey, Brock or Trent Meacham could rotate on Slaughter in Frazier's absence.

* * *

NCAA tournament teams are given 350 tickets, UI ticket director Jason Heggemeyer said, with the option of taking 200 more. Heggemeyer said Illinois declined the extra tickets due to the faraway locale and quick turnaround for a Thursday game.

The Rose Garden, which is sold out for this weekend's games, figures to be thick with Zags and Huskies today. Gonzaga (Spokane, Wash.) and Washington (Seattle) are a reasonable drive, and both have passionate followings.

"Hopefully the (Oregon) Duck fans, even though they don't like us, will cheer for us because we're from the same league," Washington forward Jon Brockman said.

At Illinois' open practice Wednesday, a small pack of Illini faithful hovered in the stands near the court. Athletic director Ron Guenther also was in attendance.

* * *

Illinois coaches leaned on McCamey in the days leading up to the sophomore's NCAA tournament debut. More than one coach called him "a key" to a win.

"I always talk about every guy gets to a point where they decide they want to be a player and they make that commitment. We've gotten a little closer with him," Weber said. "I hope somewhere here – it would be great this weekend and the next couple of weeks – it would be good if he can turn it on and be consistent."

McCamey said he "grew up watching it" and understands the magnitude of today's game.

"Every game in the NCAA tournament is big. If you lose, you go home," he said. "Me, Mike Davis and (Mike) Tisdale, of the starters, haven't played in one. ... Everybody's going to have jitters at first, but it's the game of basketball."

* * *

Washington freshman Scott Suggs said he doesn't make an extra effort to follow Illinois box scores, even though he was considering Illinois and Missouri out of high school.

"It was pretty close between all three schools," Suggs said Wednesday.

No. 4 Washington meets No. 13 Mississippi State today at the Rose Garden. A St. Louis-area product who received his first recruiting letter from Weber, Suggs has played in 17 games as a freshman, though he contends the experience hasn't been a total downer.

"It doesn't rain as much (in Seattle) as I thought it would," Suggs said.

Suggs said he was close with former AAU teammate Tisdale, a UI sophomore.

"He's a goofy dude off the court. He was cool," he said. "I really enjoyed playing with him."

Suggs said he met Washington coach Lorenzo Romar when he was 10 years old. He said the two paired off in a game of one-on-one. Romar won, and then won again when Suggs chose a school.

"I didn't really know he was a college coach back then," he said. "I just figured some old guy just beat me in basketball."

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A Decatur Eisenhower product, Purdue freshman Lewis Jackson said "it hasn't really set in yet" that he'll play in the NCAA tournament today at the Rose Garden.

"You dream of it. Realistically, in Decatur, we dreamed of it, but nobody really did it," Jackson said. "So it's kind of like, 'Now I'm here and everybody's calling me from back home, so it's finally coming true.' It's just a special feeling for me. It's like I'm representing my whole city."

The Boilers have been a trendy pick to make a deep run. The roster is healthy and is coming off a Big Ten tournament title.

"To be honest with you, I do think we can make it to Detroit. We're playing well right now," Jackson said. "As long as we can outrebound people – that's the biggest thing – because there's other big teams in this tournament that can play just as well as us. I think rebounding's going to be the key for us. If we can do that successfully, we can make it to the Final Four."

* * *

The Illini were aware President Barack Obama – the First Predictor – picked Illinois to beat Western Kentucky on ESPN.

"He picked us to win the first-round game but picked us to lose the second (to Gonzaga). So I'm kind of mad about that," Illinois' Davis said with a smile. "He's one of the few people who picked us to win, so we're motivated by that. Hopefully we can come out with a victory."

* * *

UI freshman Stan Simpson is "a man of few words," coaches have said. But when the quiet forward speaks, it's worth listening to. In the team's locker room Wednesday, Simpson was asked what he thinks of the future of the program.

"It could be like a dynasty. We have real good players, really good players coming in," he said. "I think we have some future NBA draft picks on this team. I'm betting on that. Hopefully we win a championship."

Third-year sophomore Richard Semrau said missing the NCAA tournament last year was a motivator.

"Hopefully it'll be the last year we didn't go to this," Semrau said. "We'll just keep improving and go from there and maybe the program can get back next year."

* * *

Gonzaga senior Jeremy Pargo, one of the more animated conversationalists in the Portland pod, joked that Illinois was recruiting him "until they saw my transcript."

"Then it was like, 'Whoa!' " Pargo said with a booming laugh.

A Chicago-area product, Pargo leads No. 4 Gonzaga against No. 13 Akron today. Asked about possibly playing his homestate school in the second round, Pargo said, "I've been waiting on that question."

Pargo insisted he wasn't looking past Akron.

"The only time I follow their (Illinois') box scores is when they played Gonzaga a few years ago. It was a pretty brutal beating!" Pargo said with another loud laugh. "That was about the only time I've followed their box scores. I'm actually friends with quite a few guys that beat Gonzaga back then. I don't know too many of the guys that are on the team now. I know Jeff (Jordan). I know Calvin Brock. I know Demetri McCamey. That's it."

He listed Deron Williams, Dee Brown and Aaron Spears, among other former Illini he's played with.

"Me and Roger Powell played quite a bit of one-on-one this summer," Pargo said. "And Luther Head. Luther's always Luther. He's from Chicago, so I've known him for a while. Luther used to call me lazy back in high school. It was his thing, I don't know why. Luther's always been a good guy."

* * *

Illinois' recruits are watching today's game with a piqued interest.

St. Louis-area standout Tyler Griffey said he filled out five brackets – "five different winners" – and has Illinois in the Sweet 16.

"If they play as well they can, they can get past Western Kentucky and Gonzaga," Griffey said. "UNC (North Carolina) would be tough (in the Sweet 16)."

But he also had the same question as some of the current Illini.

"I've been hearing Western Kentucky is the favorite," said Griffey, who finished as his high school's career leader in scoring, rebounding and blocked shots. "It's like, 'Wait a second. What's going on here?' "

Las Vegas-area standout D.J. Richardson said Wednesday he will watch today.

"The key is they have to play without Chester," Richardson said.

Richardson's team finished the regular season 30-0. He said Findlay Prep will compete in a national tournament starting April 3 in Washington, D.C.

"Right now I've been focusing on getting better and taking care of my classes," said Richardson, who added he has no concerns about qualifying academically.

A combo guard, Richardson said he's up to 6-4, 185 pounds. He's also keeping tabs on his future teammates, having seen the YouTube videos of 2010 recruit Jereme Richmond's now-famous buzzer beater and Richmond's hanging-on-the-rim technical foul in the state playoffs.

"I was texting with (2009 recruit) Brandon Paul for a long time (Tuesday)," Richardson said. "We were just talking about how we can't wait to play together."

Griffey said he expects to arrive on campus about June 15. Richardson said he'll be there in June.

* * *

When Illinois is on offense, Weber seems to have a central goal: use the Illini's size advantage. Western Kentucky has one starter over 6-5.

"He's talked about that a lot," Davis said. "We have a big size advantage, so we should control the boards and points in the paint. It would be big if me and Mike (Tisdale) can score in the paint, take our time and score. We could do damage."

McCamey said the Illini want to go "inside-out" against the smallish Hilltoppers.

"We've got a 7-footer and 6-10 in the frontcourt," the point guard said. "We've got to get the ball inside, once you see mismatches like that and get an advantage inside. Then you rely on shooting threes with the guards."