EAST LANSING, Mich. – At this time last week, they were all alone on top of the Big Ten basketball world. Unbeaten, unbelievable, unbecoming of an Illinois men's basketball team in the '90s.

At 2:30 this afternoon, they report to practice on a two-game slide, tied for fifth in the league and a Wednesday loss against Wisconsin away from .500.

   From the very beginning, Indiana''s Michael Lewis thought like a left-hander.

   The infant would be sitting on the living room floor as his Mom rolled a ball to him. Every time, Lewis would grab it with his left hand.

The beauty of the Big Ten's first tournament is that it offers a second chance.

Illinois could lose today at Michigan State by 20 points. Jarrod Gee could go scoreless the rest of the season. Kevin Turner could air-ball every three-point shot in February. Lon Kruger could take a month's vacation.

EAST LANSING, Mich. – The survivor of today's Breslin Center brouhaha will have first place in the Big Ten all to itself.

For at least a good two hours.

   EAST LANSING, Mich.  Last week, Lon Kruger''s Illini had more fun on the road than Dale Earnhardt, Willie Nelson and Thelma and Louise.

   Keep it up, and they could be on the road to something special.

With 12 Big Ten games to go, an 11-6 Illini basketball team has five senior starters healthy and optimistic and a bench that is improving.

In the wake of Sam Okey's walk-out at Wisconsin, consider how other Big Ten teams have been impacted.

   CHAMPAIGN  At midnight, Gary McQuay and his Purdue teammates prefer to be in bed, not on a basketball court.

   That, the Boilermakers say, is incentive enough to play hard whenever their coach is looking.

   The crystal ball reported the Fighting Illini without a center or point guard as they entered this basketball season, and that''s a partly accurate summation.

   Regarding the latter, there''s no all-seeing Richard Keene dishing out laser feeds, no Kiwane Garris wilting the defense with tenacious dribble penetration.