Illini looking for some flashes of pride

"Having some pride at home," Illinois coach Bruce Weber said. "Part of it is building toward next year and learning to get ready at home. You go on the road. You have a fear factor. We played with better urgency on the road. Now if we make progress and continue this quest for New York (and the NIT semifinals), we have to have a sense of urgency at home."

Illinois forward Mike Davis said the Illini owe it to the fans.

"We struggled at home," he said. "The fans have always done a great job. They're always loud. They're usually behind us. Sometimes we come out and think we're supposed to win. It's Assembly Hall. People are scared to come in there. We're going to come out and win. That's not the case any more. Teams play extra hard on the road."

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