Illini Look To End 8-Game Skid At Penn State

The Illini men travel to State College, Pennsylvania Saturday afternoon, and play Penn State Sunday.  They’re just above Illinois in the standings, with one more conference victory.

In a Friday teleconference, Head Coach John Groce said he's not interested is speculating whether his team should have won some of its eight consecutive losing games, given the talent available to him.

"I'll let the basketball gods take care of that," he said.  "Our job is to try to help these guys get better individually, help our team get a little bit better, (and) continue to prepare them.  I don't get caught up in this 'we should have this, or should've, or could've.  I think that's a complete waste of time."

Groce said one area desperate for improvement is the rebounding of Nnanna Eguw and John Ekey.

"They need to get more of them," he said.  "They need to go get them.  They're going to block out, and they're getting thrown out of the way.  They've got to maintain contact, they've got to be more physical.  They've got to dig more of them out."

Sunday's game is scheduled to tip at 3:15 Central Time on the Big Ten Network.