"Myke Henry suffered a sprained ankle in practice Saturday and is expected to be sidelined for 7-10 days, Weber said Sunday. That probably will lead to more minutes for Joseph Bertrand, whose struggles in the exhibition season can be attributed in part to a hip injury."

GAME 2

UI men vs. SIU Edwardsville,

7:30 p.m. today

LINEUPS

ILLINOIS (1-0)

Probable starters

P Name HT. YR. PPG

G Tracy Abrams 6-1 Fr. 8.0

G D.J. Richardson 6-3 Jr. 5.0

G Brandon Paul 6-4 Jr. 14.0

F Tyler Griffey 6-8 Jr. 10.0

C Meyers Leonard 7-0 So. 15.0

Top reserves

G Sam Maniscalco 6-0 Gr. 5.0

F Nnanna Egwu 6-11 Fr. 4.0

G Joseph Bertrand 6-5 So. 0.0

SIU EDWARDSVILLE (0-0)

Probable starters

P Name HT. YR. PPG

G Kevin Stineman 6-0 Sr. 0.0

G Corey Wickware 5-10 Sr. 0.0

F Jerome Jones 6-6 Jr. 0.0

F Mark Yelovich 6-6 Jr. 0.0

F Derian Shaffer 6-7 Jr. 0.0

Top reserves

G Kris Davis 6-2 Fr. 0.0

G Reggie Reed 5-9 Jr. 0.0

G David Boarden 6-4 Sr. 0.0

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: None.

Online stream: Mario Gonzalez is on play-by-play duties, Kyle Crowe is the color analyst and Christine Gluckleder is the sideline reporter.

Series: Illinois leads 2-0. Illinois won 96-69 in their most recent meeting (Nov. 12, 2009). Bruce Weber is 1-0 vs. SIU Edwardsville.

Coaches: Weber (194-86 in ninth season at Illinois, 297-140 in 14th season overall); Lennox Forrester (40-75 in fifth season at SIU-E and same overall).

STORYLINES

1

No redshirt here

The biggest news to come out of the season opener: Ibrahima Djimde was subbed into the game. And if there was a questionable decision Friday, it was the coaches electing to play Djimde and burn a potential redshirt. They already have four big men — five if you include Myke Henry, who has been an effective rebounder and scorer at forward in practice. But after a pair of disappointing seasons, the Illini wanted to play this season with a full deck. The decision is an indication there is more pressure than usual to win now. Coaches like that Djimde is a physical presence in the paint, even if his skills need developing.

2

On the Myke

In a 67-49 win against Loyola, Bruce Weber was able to distribute minutes across the board. Only D.J. Richardson played at least 30. That made for a nine-man rotation. If Weber had his druthers, it would've been 10. "The one (thing) I am disappointed in is I didn't give Myke Henry more minutes (he played four). I think that will come with time," Weber said. Due to an injury, it will take more time than expected. Henry suffered a sprained ankle in practice Saturday and is expected to be sidelined for 7-10 days, Weber said Sunday. That probably will lead to more minutes for Joseph Bertrand, whose struggles in the exhibition season can be attributed in part to a hip injury.

3

Good look

'Tis the season for mixing and matching lineup combinations. Illinois played two unique tandems together in the season opener — two lead guards (Abrams, Maniscalco) and two towers (Egwu, Leonard). And both were effective. In practice they haven't used those combinations very often, in part because Maniscalco has been in and out as he nurses a sore ankle. Both Abrams and Maniscalco said they enjoy the pairing. "He's (Maniscalco) helped me out so much already," Abrams said. Provided they don't commit too many fouls, Egwu and Leonard can be effective together, too. "The two bigs, it gives us some versatility, there's no doubt," Weber said.

PREDICTION: Illinois 87, SIU Edwardsville 48

SIU Edwardsville went 8-21 last season, with four wins against Division I teams. Former Mount Zion standout Mark Yelovich is back, however, after sitting out most of last season due to injury. During the 2009-10 season, Yelovich was their leading scorer at over 16 points per game. Fifth-year head coach Lennox Forrester has plenty of ties to central Illinois. He worked as an assistant at Bradley for five seasons. He was also an All-American at Parkland in 1989. SIU-E made the leap to Division I status in 2008-09 and is still building to compete on that level. Ken Pomeroy's statistical analysis predicted the Cougars would win only one game against a Division I opponent this season (against Chicago State, another UI opponent). Illinois continues its extended exhibition season with a no-sweat win tonight. (News-Gazette prediction record: 1-0).