OK, Illini basketball fans. Be honest. In the final analysis, you know you'd rather see the Illini play poorly and win, than play well and lose. As we saw during the football season, there's a big difference between a W and an L.

And wouldn't you rather see them ranked in the Top 25, even if you know in your heart they don't belong (a lie detector would confirm this, even if you won't admit it)?

A more positive Ronald Reagan would now retort: "There you go again, Loren" ... falling back on a possibly inaccurate assumption that, with the Pac-12 leading the nation in mediocrity, the depth of quality teams is down nationwide. In other words, Illinois is one of the taller midgets.

"I don't know," came Gus Phan's puzzled reply. "I love Illini basketball, but it's getting so I can hardly watch."

Yes, we heard the boos and catcalls Saturday in Chicago. For many of those folks up north, the UNLV game was the showcase that might encourage them to make the downstate drive in January, and they were turned off ... again. It's hard to accept when the Illini don't reach 50 points.

There was another brief negative barrage at home Monday, when Bruce Weber called time with Cornell leading 42-36.

The Illini, who trailed by 10 earlier, caught up at 32-32 but shot 1 of 12 to start the second half, and it didn't look good. But to its credit, the home assemblage was in full voice when the timeout ended, and Weber's up-and-down team responded. The Illini needed every bit of the Assembly Hall advantage to quell Cornell's Big Red uprising, 64-60.

In the clutch

So far, the 11-1 Illini have shown a laudable ability to successfully close out every contest they've had a chance to win.

Sam Maniscalco stepped up to help Illinois preserve narrow leads against Richmond (66-61 with 1:23 to go), Illinois State (a nervous 63-59 result) and Maryland (61-57 with 2:50 left).

These three victims aren't exactly powerhouses. They had 11 losses going into Tuesday night, Illinois State's Redbirds embarrassed from handing hapless Wilmington its first win of the season Saturday at Normal, 63-54.

The 82-75 verdict against Gonzaga stands as the UI's best performance but was followed by extended stretches of mediocrity: Illinois trailed St. Bonaventure 39-30; Coppin State climbed within 59-57 with 7:00 to go; UNLV rolled 64-48 Saturday; and Cornell led 48-44 before Brandon Paul and D.J. Richardson drained six clutch jumpers in the last 7:38.

So Christmas is coming, and it's time to be thankful ... even if it doesn't bolster fan courage for Thursday's shootout against Missouri's unbeaten marauders in St. Louis. The Tigers lack size but hit the court with exactly the kind of passing, penetrating playmakers who are the root of UI troubles. Guards Phil and Matt Pressey aren't scoring in double figures, but four teammates are averaging doubles in great part because of the brothers' eight assists and speedy ball handling. And they're just two of four guards on the court.

"Those two get in the paint and do a great job passing the ball to their shooters," Weber said. "They can explode on you. We're the underdog. So let's go play."

Nothing in reserve

Last season Meyers Leonard showed early promise, then hit the freshman wall and failed to register a point in 16 of the last 27 games. He averaged 2.1 points for the season.

We are now watching a miraculous transformation. Monday's double-double (19 points, 16 rebounds) might have been his most impressive yet. His maturity is taking form before our very eyes. You can almost see him grow.

"He's still a fun-loving kid," Weber said. "We're trying to help him be an adult on the court."

And now the current freshmen, once praised as a Top 15 class, are going through what Leonard went through last year. It must be shocking for them — all of them — to rise up for shots that they've made all their lives and misfire badly.

Add similarly erratic returnees Crandall Head and Joe Bertrand to the mix, and the reserves went 0 of 10 from the field Monday, 1 of 11 Saturday, 4 of 9 vs. Coppin State and 0 of 6 vs. St. Bonaventure. That's 5 of 36, or just under 14 percent.

This has created a huge problem for Weber, who entered the season with the intention of subbing freely, and has discovered he can't win games if he carries out that plan. He doesn't want to tell subs not to shoot, but internally he must cringe every time they do.

What we're seeing is a total freeze-up of the entire class. They appear tight, intimidated and unsure of themselves. Throw in semester exams and they've nearly been traumatized. Nnanna Egwu had a highly promising look, in the late summer and early fall, routinely nailing turnaround jumpers. Tracy Abrams was improving by leaps and bounds when he opened the season with 17 points and 11 rebounds in the first three games.

All five newcomers have lost confidence. All are tight as a drum. And the worse it gets, the worse it gets.

They'll break out of it at some point. Myke Henry could be the UI's leading scorer someday. But right now, all have hit the invisible wall, and there aren't any more games in which Weber can sub for the sake of subbing.

Loren Tate writes for The News-Gazette. He can be reached at ltate@news-gazette.com.