Toughness

It's been a while since John Groce expressed his displeasure with his team's toughness, but the first-year coach was less than thrilled with his team's fortitude in Tuesday's loss at Iowa. Toughness was an issue during Illinois' 2-7 start in conference play, but in winning 6 of 7, the toughness issue appeared to be old news. Today's Big Ten finale and the upcoming Big Ten tournament offer chances for the Illini to right that ship. "More than anything, it's mental. It's the mind. You've got to be mentally ready to go. If you're mentally ready to go, a lot of the things that come up in toughness areas, you do those things well and at a high level because the mental part's there. As I look at it, more of it's mental and our ability to focus," Groce said.

Marcus Jackson